Meddling
by HopeLiterature
Summary: Andy has freed Phantom, as Clockwork knew she would. In a sick twist of Karma, she must help the Ghost's younger self defeat him, despite destroying her own future. Can she give up her meddling ways to help the Ghost she loves to never return to the timeline, or will she choose to secure her own endeavors?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Clockwork loved many things about what he did. He loved watching things happen just as they were meant to. He loved knowing everything everyone else didn't. Most of all, he loved to meddle in the chronological map.

It was his very favorite pastime to have his nose in everyone's business. Watching mortals react to roadblocks he had put in place gave him a certain feeling of power. He was the pebble thrown into the proverbial pond of life, creating the waves that shaped the surface. He moved the iceberg into the path of the Titanic. He sent the hurricanes and the earthquakes and the fallen tree that delayed an average joe from encountering a drunk driver. Every path was laid out before him simultaneously, and he was an expert on seeing the 'big picture'. It was his entire purpose.

This particular time he meddled was probably his favorite so far. The reason for this was because the one he sent in to assure the correct outcome loved to meddle almost as much as he did. She was the only one he had met that completely understood the impossibility of Clockwork's position. She also hated the Observants with a passion. He became more familiar with her when she died.

Her name was Andrea, but it was in everyone's best interest to call her Andy. She was the product of a humble mechanic and an absent mother, and she was tough as nails. Clockwork had introduced himself to her at precisely the right time, and kept her around his tower to share his love of meddling when she wasn't out harmlessly tormenting other Ghosts. She had lost everything in the end of her short life, and was left to wander the Ghost Zone by herself. She had a unique set of abilities that Clockwork was all too happy to witness in use. He was even more pleased to employ them.

Her favorite thing in Clockwork's spacious tower, he knew, was a little green and silver Thermos on the shelf. The Thermos, dented and scratched from its use, contained a vicious Ghost who existed outside of the precious Chronological Map that Clockwork so carefully monitored. Usually, Clockwork destroyed things that were meant to remain timeless, but this circumstance was very important to the futures of several different times.

Andy was only seventeen when she died, and so lost that she craved companionship. All she had in her afterlife to fill the abyss of death was Clockwork, and he wasn't really a 'warm presence' per se. Andy needed a friend. The entity inside the Thermos knew this, and filled her head with promises of a position to do as she wished in his own territory, if she freed him.

Now, Andy was young, but she wasn't stupid. She knew Clockwork kept this creature locked away for a reason, but he never told her. "All in good time," he would say when she asked. She knew how he worked. If he truly didn't want the Thermos opened, he would've told her. Her excuse to her actions was that Clockwork wasn't stopping her, so it probably was harmless.

Clockwork had his reasons. He knew she would open the thermos. He also knew that the captive would have formed enough of a companionship with Andy to tell her where he was going, not that Clockwork didn't already know. It was obvious.

He was going to force his way back into the Chronological Map.

The captive did, however, leave Andy with a gift to meddle more in the lives of Ghosts while he was away. She treasured it, and kept it with her every moment of her afterlife. Clockwork found it touching, despite seeing it coming.

It was because of this companionship between the two of them that Clockwork decided to send her after the freed Ghost to assure he couldn't achieve his goals. Andy found it cruel, but understood that Clockwork had reasons for everything. Heavy-hearted, she agreed to do as he instructed.

"It's called Amity Park," he told her, waving his staff to show her the town. "His younger self resides there, and he must make sure that this child goes through the necessary trials to grow into himself."

Andy's eyes changed from an uninterested gray to a cold blue as she saw the captive Ghost's former self. He was, in this part of time, the same age she was condemned to remain. He had peachy skin and hair the color of a raven's feather. His eyes were a deep blue, and his build was leaner than the Ghost she had come to know.

"Phantom's first target will be the young woman to his right," Clockwork gestured, shifting into an old man.

Andy looked where Clockwork gestured. The girl had the same hair color as Phantom's younger self, but her eyes were a deep purple, like two amethysts, burning with determination. She had fair skin that was accented with dark clothing and lipstick that matched her eyes. She looked defiant despite her small form.

"Why?" Andy asked, curiosity sparkling yellow in her eyes.

"He has an infatuation for her. They both deny these shared feelings for reasons that hold no sense. In the future I have set, they must end up together." Clockwork shifted to a child.

Green flooded in Andy's irises.

"The future Phantom has envisioned will end all creation before you can fully enjoy it, Andy," Clockwork remained looking into the portal, not having to see Andy's face to know her envy.

He waved his staff to show her an image of herself and Phantom. They looked maliciously content. He ruled over a fearful wreckage of what once was a town. Phantom froze over the buildings of the city in seconds and he shattered the ice with a Ghostly Wail. The townspeople scattered, screaming as their world came crashing down around them.

"There's still people there," Andy defended, her eyes flashing yellow again.

Clockwork waved his staff again.

Phantom was irritated. He had run the humans out of his domain, and no longer had anything to keep him occupied. Andy had left, fearing the malevolence she'd witnessed. This enraged him, and he scoured the globe for new cities to haunt.

Fear darkened Andy's eyes to black and she looked away. "He'd leave eventually, wouldn't he?"

"Yes," Clockwork answered, becoming an adult. "He would return to destroy the Ghost Zone."

"Is his path only destruction?" Andy asked. "He seemed more intelligent than that."

"His creation was one of intense pain," Clockwork said. "Surely you can appreciate that."

Defeated, Andy sighed. "So what are you going to do?"

Clockwork smiled. "I'm sending you back there. With a little more help, Phantom will be defeated. For good."

Clockwork met her deep blue stare, "Love isn't a feeling he would accept, Andy. He believes his humanity was stripped from him. He feels nothing but a thirst for vengeance and power."

Andy dropped her eyes away from him. She looked into the portal at the young human with an arm around his friends. She set her jaw, decided.

"What will you have me do, Clockwork?"


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

He sent her to Amity park, true to his word. She was placed in a tiny apartment above a garage on the outskirts of town, for the privacy to keep her secret. She was a mechanic to pay the bills, and a student to keep an eye on the humans. Clockwork gave her two hellhounds to keep her company while she laid in hiding, and disguises to keep their secret. They were Rottweilers as far as regular humans knew, but much larger than the breed should be. Andy was content to share the experience with someone who knew everything, and quickly bonded with the two of them. She affectionately gave them the names Zeus and Hades, and they had their own spots beside her on her springy queen mattress at night. Clockwork had sent her back before Phantom was set to secretly arrive in Amity Park so she could "settle in" to living again, before she had to make any appearances.

Except she wasn't human, she was still a Ghost. Still deceased. She still had all of a Ghost's abilities, and her gift from Phantom. She only appeared to be living. She had no pulse, she didn't bleed, and she only needed air to speak. The only thing she couldn't hide was the mysterious changing in her eyes. Simplistically, a pair of dark glasses were added to her disguise.

The first day at Casper high was hell. She had never been to a public high school before, and was glad she was spared the horrid memories in her human life. Teenagers were self-absorbed and petty if they were popular, but the rest bored her. It was a terrible cliché here: jocks were bullies, cheerleaders were bitches, and teachers were likely to side wrong in every conflict.

Her schedule had revolved entirely around the girl Clockwork had shown her. Andy caught that the girl's name was Samantha Manson, but she had a thing or two to tell someone who dared to call her that. The boy in the beret and glasses called her 'Sam'. Andy sympathized with her decision.

The teachers were mostly idiots. They tried desperately to understand their students, but failed miserably. Andy was already past most of what she was being taught in class, and tried to entertain herself with the students.

Teenagers were swimming in different emotions, and it made them all too easy for Andy to manipulate. Already, she'd given a nerdy kid enough anger to punch a jock in the face, and enough embarrassment to make the jock burst into tears. She'd made a cheating boyfriend feel guilty enough to admit his misdeeds, and the girlfriend angry enough to not forgive him at his third offense.

Andy was mischievous, sure. But she wasn't without conscience.

Walking in the hall for the lunch period, she passed a girl in a pink crop top and capris with an accent. She was talking to her friend with blond hair. The petty topic of conversation made Andy's streak of do-good seem irrelevant.

"I just can't believe she thinks she can talk to me like that. As if a loser like her has any say over what I want to do and who I want to talk to." The girl smoothed her hair back. "So, I'm going to steal her boyfriend. I'll show her just how insignificant she is compared to me."

The blond girl's eyes glazed a jealous green under Andy's control. "Not if I steal him first!"

A fight ensued between the two of them and Andy walked by into the bathroom, a smirk on her face, eyes glowing a malevolent purple behind the dark glasses.

She set her things on the counter, took off her glasses, and looked at her reflection.

The human staring back at her was just as she remembered. Long dark hair fell in unkempt waves under a backwards black-billed, white snapback. She had a black hoodie tied around a thin waist over a white, fitted tank top. Her jeans were a darker blue, boot-cut, over solid black Vans. Phantom's ice crystal hung in a glass cylinder on a long silver chain, and Clockwork's medallion was expertly-crafted into a thin, leather wrist cuff to camouflage it from the human trio who were familiar with the Master of all Time.

Andy sighed, watching her eyes change back to an uninterested gray.

She gathered her things and walked to the door. Opening it quickly, she took two steps and slammed into someone, both of them dropping their books.

"Son of a bitch," Andy bit out, eyes flashing red and cheeks flushing.

"Crap!" the other cried upon collision.

Andy bent down to sort the books into piles, putting on her glasses.

"Sorry about that," the other said.

Andy looked up, seeing Sam Manson.

"No, that was my fault," Andy stood, her eyes turning a calm turquoise.

"I'm Sam," the girl greeted, amethyst eyes searching. "Are you new to Casper?"

Andy nodded briefly. "And Amity park. I'm Andy."

"Sam!" a voice called down the hall.

Andy looked as Sam turned around. It was _him._ _He_ was calling her name. Andy's eyes deepened into a blazing emerald with envy behind the dark lenses.

Sam waved then turned back, "Well I've gotta go. It was nice to meet you."

Andy nodded, faking a polite smile. "You too. Sorry about your books."

Her gut burned with jealousy as Sam turned to leave. How cruel life could be. She was technically dead and it was still giving her a kick in the ass. She watched Sam walk away with _him_ and their friend in the beret. They laughed about something Andy couldn't hear.

Andy was just about to walk away when a very nasal voice caught her ears.

"Watch where you're going, Fen-turd!" followed by the slam of a locker. Another jock and his friend were herding the three teens into a corner. The blond with the nasal voice had _his_ shirt balled up in his fist, shoving _him_ back to his dark-haired accomplice. The other jock held _him_ and Sam in headlocks as the blond turned his attention to the kid in the beret.

Andy's eyes burned red and she stomped to the blond in the letterman jacket who was picking on _him_ and his friends. Her hands clenched into fists as she approached. The kid in the beret was being shoved into a locker much too small for him while _he_ and Sam were being held back by another letterman jacket.

Andy dropped her books and binder and gave the collar of the blond's jacket a hard yank. He flew back with a yell and landed on his ass.

"Don't you have a jock itch convention to get to?" Andy quipped at him as she offered the kid with the beret a hand, lowering him from the locker.

The blond stood up and his dark-haired friend released _him_ and Sam _._

"Hey, Kwan, look here," his nasal voice rang. "Fresh meat."

They closed in on Andy, laughing. The one known as Kwan stayed back further than the blond, probably only involved at all because the blond initiated it. Andy didn't back down. She stood tall despite the foot-and-a-half height difference.

"Dash, leave her alone!" _he_ defended her.

"You're next, Fen-turd!" Dash replied, pointing at him before turning back to Andy.

The blond took Andy's glasses off of her face. "What kind of geek wears sunglasses inside? What are you, a vampire?"

"Give those back," Andy snapped, careful about where she looked.

The jock put them on, "I think I'll keep them. Unless you can get them back from me, freak."

"I'd hate to embarrass you in front of your sidekick," Andy snapped, crossing her arms and looking at him through her dark brows. "Actually, I wouldn't. But, given the fact that I consider myself a decent person, I'll give you the chance to not be a total dickead."

"Who you calling a dickhead?" he shoved Andy back to the locker.

 _Finally_ , she thought.

Andy swung low, hitting Dash right in the stomach with a tightly-balled fist, making him double over to her height.

"Look me in the eye," Andy leaned in and spoke low, one hand on his shoulder.

He met her gaze behind the stolen shades, eyes wide at the burning red of her irises, still catching his breath.

"You or any of your dumbass friends lay another hand on me, I'll knock your damn teeth out," she hissed, pulling the sunglasses from his face gently.

She cut her eyes to the four students behind Dash.

"You lay a hand on them, I'll start breaking bones," Andy finished. She stood up and pushed him back out of her way. He fell back onto the linoleum, still holding his gut. Andy donned her sunglasses with an evil smirk.

She picked up her discarded books and binder and gave the stunned trio a salute. She turned and walked calmly to the schoolyard as if nothing happened.

She felt the gazes of all five students on her back as she turned her hat around, stepping out into the overcast day.

It had been all of three minutes to herself under a tree with a book that she was interrupted by hearing her name in someone's conversation. She edged around the tree until the talker was in view. She wasn't surprised whose voice she'd heard.

"Her name is Andy. She's new," Sam's voice trailed through the cool autumn air.

"How do you know her?" the beret kid asked.

"I bumped into her outside the bathroom before we met up," she answered, picking at a salad. "That's the first time I've talked to her. She's in all my classes, though."

"Why would she step in like that, though?" the kid in the beret pondered aloud. "She doesn't even know us."

"We may have met one of a few decent human beings left in the world," Sam remarked, poking at her salad.

"Can you find anything on her, Tucker?" _he_ asked.

 _Good, another name._

"The school record only has her name, grade, and address," Tucker responded.

"What's her full name?" _he_ asked.

Andy's cheeks heated up.

"Andrea Carter. She's a junior, like us, and she just moved here. It's a fake address though. My PDA doesn't show anything matching it in Amity Park." Tucker informed them.

Andy turned the page and continued listening. She heard a hiss from _his_ lips as a breath of cold air fell from her own.

A Ghost was near. And it wasn't her. She peeked around the tree at their table as _he_ dove under it. A light flashed and he appeared as a Ghost.

"Be careful, Danny," Sam whispered to _him_ over the screams of the students and faculty.

Danny. That was his name. He was half-human when he was young. Clockwork never told Andy this, and Phantom hadn't either. Andy didn't even know it was possible.

She watched from her spot behind the tree as _Danny_ fought with the halfwit Box Ghost. He was undoubtedly powerful in his Ghost form. Andy noticed that he had his ice powers even now. His formerly black hair was now white, soft and flowing in the breeze. Those deep blue irises burned a haunting emerald green. Andy's heart sank at the sight of him. It sank even further when she saw how Sam was looking at him.

The Box Ghost was encircled by an assortment of lunch boxes and trays. He was shooting them at Danny. They had little effect due to Danny's intangibility, but Sam and Tucker were less fortunate. It looked to Andy as if they were used to this sort of thing. They didn't flee like the other mortals. Then again, their best friend was a Ghost. They were probably _very_ accustomed to it.

Tucker had a Thermos that matched the one Andy had seen Phantom held in. Sam had some sort of wrist ray, deflecting the debris as Tucker fumbled with the Thermos. He may have been tech-savvy, but he wasn't looking too steady under pressure from Andy's perspective.

A can of soda got past Sam's shooting and she covered her face with her arms. The full can damaged the ray gun on impact, and sprayed its contents on the irritated goth. Andy sucked in a breath through her teeth, sympathetic.

"Hurry up, Tucker!" she yelled over the commotion of the students and the cheesy banter of the Box Ghost.

Andy's eye caught sight of a full metal lunch box headed right for Sam. The goth wasn't paying attention, and Andy was certain the impact would render Sam unconscious. A moment's pause later, Andy shot a bright orange ray from her fingertip, throwing the lunchbox out of Sam's path. She ducked back behind the tree when Sam looked around for the owner of the orange energy.

"Where'd that come from?" Tucker yelled above the noise.

"Just get the thermos working!" Sam ordered, dripping with soda.

Danny shot the Box Ghost, sending him flying backward in the direction of the two humans at the table.

Sam snatched away the Thermos and got it working. It sent out a blue beam that trapped the idiotic Box Ghost and sucked him inside. Sam firmly closed the cap as Danny landed.

"You guys alright?" Danny asked, transforming back into his human self. He looked Sam up and down, "What happened to you?"

Sam pulled him in close, ignoring the comment. Andy could feel her urgency as she spoke. "I think there's another Ghost around. One we haven't dealt with before," she whispered.

"How do you know?" he asked, posture becoming more rigid.

"An orange beam," Tucker hissed. "We've never known a Ghost with orange blasts before."

Danny's eyes flashed a Ghostly neon green. "I didn't sense another one. But keep an eye out."

Andy smirked to herself. _You won't spot me. Not like this._

The bell rang, and the remaining students filtered back into the classrooms. Andy noted that Ghost attacks were frequent in this city. It was like a rain storm; people just carried on. She looked around at the shaken students as she made her way to the next classroom.

Andy had this class with Sam, but the other two weren't present. She put on a shy act and sat in the back of the classroom. Hoping not to draw attention to herself. Sam recognized her immediately, and took a seat beside her as the bell rang.

"I never got to thank you for earlier," she whispered to Andy as she set her books on the desk.

Andy's gut sank, but she kept her face neutral under the low bill of her hat, "What are you talking about?"

"Earlier today, with Dash and Kwan," Sam clarified. "People don't usually stand up to them like that. It's nice to see that some people have common decency." She smiled.

Andy's eyes shifted from a panicked black to a calm turquoise behind the lenses. "Oh, thanks. I think."

"You ran off before we could thank you," she said in a low voice. "And warn you."

"Warn me?" Andy's eyes turned yellow as she pushed the glasses up.

Sam nodded. "The popular kids don't take it well when people try to stand up to them. They may be more relentless."

Andy's eyes flashed an energetic orange, "I can handle tweedle-dipshit and tweedle-dumbass."

Sam laughed, drawing the teacher's attention.

"Miss Manson, do you care to share with the class just what is so funny?" the bald instructor called over his desk.

"No, Mr. Lancer," she replied, blushing.

"And Miss Carter, as fashionable as you look, sunglasses are for the outdoors. Remove them, please." Mr. Lancer sat back in his seat and took a sip of coffee from his mug.

She frowned. Her glasses concealed her eyes. Their constant changing would be a dead giveaway. She needed a distraction if she was going to get the nosy eyes of the students off her. A malicious smile crossed Andy's face accompanying the purple that flooded her eyes. She pulled the brim of her hat low after she removed her shades. With a subtle wave of her hand, she froze the coffee in Mr. Lancer's mug.

When he went for another drink, he was too absorbed in his book to look away, and just continued to gradually tip up the cup, expecting the coffee to hit his tongue at any second. When it was almost completely upside-down over his face, Andy thawed it just a little, causing a cascade of cold coffee slush to drench Mr. Lancer's face and shirt.

The class laughed as he cried out "Robinson Crusoe!" at the top of his lungs. Andy snickered as he grumbled at his ruined shirt. He excused himself from the class to clean up. As soon as he reached the doorframe, Andy put her sunglasses back on with a satisfied smirk.

Humans were kind of fun.

Talking resumed in the classroom, and papers flew all around. Andy looked at Sam, expecting a smile.

Sam looked pensive.

"You alright?" Andy asked, raising a brow beneath the low brim.

Sam's eyes snapped over to Andy, "I'm fine." She smiled, but Andy could feel a discomfort.

When the class dismissed, Andy walked alone to the parking lot, spotting the trio. Danny looked concerned, so Andy listened in.

"I think the Ghost was in class," she hissed.

"Did you see it?" Danny asked.

"Well, no." Sam almost sounded relieved. "But something happened that definitely isn't normal."

"I think you're forgetting that this is Amity Park," Tucker snorted. "Nothing is normal here. Not since the portal."

"What happened?" Danny asked, ignoring Tucker's chuckles.

"Mr. Lancer's coffee cup. It was completely upside down and holding coffee in it, then all at once, it just came out," she explained. "It was slush, even though it was steaming when he came into class."

"So, you think there's a Ghost because Lancer dumped coffee on himself?" Tucker questioned skeptically.

 _Oh, good. They don't believe her theory,_ thought Andy as she opened the door to her old pickup.

"I'm telling you, it didn't even spill a drop until it all came out at once," Sam defended. "And how did it go from piping hot to halfway frozen?"

"Sorry, Sam, but it doesn't really seem like there's anything there that's out of the ordinary." Danny shrugged, halfway resisting to laugh alongside Tucker. "It was probably just full of sugar or something. A harmless prank."

"Andy saw! She was sitting right next to me!" Sam was beginning to get frustrated.

Andy ducked into her truck and started the engine. If Sam caught her, she doubted the goth would let it go. It worked more for Andy if the boys just assumed Sam was being paranoid, as much as she hated to do that.

Andy would just have to be careful with how much she used her abilities when she was babysitting the humans. Tucker and Danny may not be quick enough to catch on, but Sam was sharp. And she was definitely stubborn enough to prove when she was right.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The first week passed quickly. Andy had somewhat befriended Sam and Tucker, but had managed to skate by under Danny's radar. The less he was concerned with her, the better.

They'd even invited her to Nasty Burger a few times after school. As frustrating as it was to smell the wonderful smell of charbroiled beef and fried potatoes and not be able to eat it, she enjoyed having friends to go out with.

Sam and Andy got along pretty well. Other than the whole "no food with a face" thing, that is. Tucker was nice, but Andy just didn't understand anything he said about technology. He'd explained her phone to her several times, and she was still lost on it. Why did it do anything besides call and text?

Danny almost joined them a few times, but when he got close enough, a hiss of cold air would snake its way out of his mouth and he would excuse himself with some lame explanation. Andy knew it was because of her that his Ghost Sense was working up. Her own went off whenever he was around, but she was clever enough to disguise it with a sigh or sneeze.

Sam got a ride back to Andy's house on Friday afternoon. She was frustrated with Danny for chasing off a football player from another school that was flirting with her, and refused to walk home with him and Tucker. Nasty Burger was out of the question, too.

Andy's eyes were an annoyed charcoal color as Sam droned on about how the guy was just being nice and taking interest in her when Danny flew off the handle. After the first five minutes of her meaningless ranting, Andy's eye began to twitch behind her glasses.

"Alex wasn't even touching me or anything. Then Danny goes all 'big brother' and scares him off," Sam fumed. "I don't know why he would care."

Andy bit her tongue hard, picking at the faded steering wheel with her fingernails, "He just cares about you, that's all."

"He doesn't think I can take care of myself. It's like he thinks I'm the same fragile little girl that I was when I met him." She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sam, anyone who knows you can tell that you're very capable of taking care of yourself," Andy flipped on the turning signal with a sigh. _Even though I'm here because Clockwork doesn't._

"Maybe he's just so used to protecting everyone that he can't switch it off," she was cooling down now, her voice was barely audible over the old diesel's loud engine.

"Is he an older brother or something?" Andy asked, turning the wheel with her palm.

"No, he's the youngest," Sam answered, still thinking.

"Then why is he used to being a protector?" Andy asked, furrowing her brows under the backwards hat.

Sam looked like she had been caught. Andy could feel the panic rolling off her in waves as she searched frantically for a convincing lie. "We've been the target of Dash's anger since day one of high school. He took a lot of hits for me."

Andy didn't know whether Sam's story held any truth, but it wasn't in her best interest to let Sam know how Andy could read her, so she just nodded. She was also not sure that it was the best time to reveal she had discovered Danny's 'secret'.

To be quite honest, Andy wasn't sure how the hell it still _was_ a secret. Danny wasn't exactly discreet.

Andy crossed the railroad tracks to the older part of town, rattling the old truck even louder than before. Few residents lived there, and the ones who did were older, so it was fairly quiet. She tried her best to avoid the potholes in the ancient gravel road to the garage.

"You live out here?" Sam asked, looking around at the multi-acre properties and the gravel road.

"It's cheaper than living in town. The peace and quiet is worth the ten minute drive to school," Andy replied. "Besides, I like the space."

They pulled into a paved driveway in front of a large building with three garage doors in the front. It had once been white with grey trim, but it was faded from the sun. The yard was paved over, and a 'BEWARE OF DOGS' sign was posted on one of the doors. Sam became nervous. She was out in the middle of a field with someone she'd only known for a week.

"It's a mechanic shop," Andy responded, more to the anxiety Sam was feeling than to Sam herself. "There's an apartment above it. It looks shady, I know."

Sam blushed, turning back to Andy, "No! I didn't mean—"

Andy smiled, feeling her embarrassment. "It's okay, Sam. I thought it was sketchy when I moved here, too."

Sam didn't seem too relieved, but gave a forced smile. She turned and opened the door to the truck. Andy reached across and shut it, holding it for a moment.

"Stay here for just a minute," Andy instructed seriously.

Fear welled up in Sam again. Her amethyst eyes rounded, "Why?"

Andy laughed, feeling her fear. "I have guard dogs. I need to bring them to you so they don't mistake you for a thief or something. Deep breaths, Sam."

Sam laughed nervously, picking at the hem of her favorite black skirt, turning over in her mind why Andy had such dangerous guard dogs. Hardly anyone lived out here. It's not like there are a ton of criminals hiding in alleyways or anything.

Andy grabbed her things and shut the door, still snickering at Sam. She walked around the front of the truck, and whistled loudly.

"Zeus! Hades!" Andy called, whistling again.

Two Rottweilers came bounding out from behind the shop. They were massive. Much bigger than any Sam had seen. They stood on all fours almost to Andy's chest, and both sported thick, sharply-spiked collars. One was with gold spikes and the other with silver. Sam swallowed the lump in her throat as she heard their low, rumbling barks.

Andy knelt down to pet them both. She used it as a distraction to talk to them.

"There's a human in the truck. I'm supposed to protect her," Andy scratched their ears.

Zeus sniffed the air, "Phantom's target? The goth girl?"

Andy nodded.

Hades nuzzled her cheek, "She's not a dog person."

Zeus gasped dramatically, "You can't bring her here. This is canine territory!"

"I'm going to slobber all over her," Hades cackled. "Cat people _love_ that."

"Hang on, let me work up some foam or something," Zeus quipped, twitching his jowls.

Andy laughed, standing up, "Play nice."

She walked around to Sam's door with the dogs at her heels, trying not to smirk.

"It's okay, Sam. Come on out," Andy smiled, adjusting her hat.

Sam carefully opened the door and the dogs rushed in to sniff her. They did so for about three minutes before they licked all over Sam's face. Andy winced, still smiling as Sam radiated a mixture of disgust and fear. She was obviously grossed out by the slobber-bomb Zeus whipped up, but she was too afraid to tick them off. Andy couldn't stop laughing as they trudged inside and up the stairs to the apartment, Sam grumbling about the smell.

"They like you," Andy said, still giggling. "Hound kisses are like big, slobbery blessings."

" _Blessing_ is a stretch, but I'm glad they didn't decide to eat me," Sam replied, wiping her freshly washed face with a towel from Andy's bathroom.

Andy could see satisfied smirks on the hounds' faces, and had to fight a smile of her own.

Sam looked around as Andy fiddled with her textbook. The apartment was a two-bedroom two-bathroom, but it was sparingly furnished. The door to the extra bedroom was locked, and there were almost no decorations on the walls. No pictures, no vases, no paintings, no posters. There was a line of hooks with keys on them hanging on the wall by the door, and two massive dog bowls by the kitchen. Andy's backpack sat on the floor beneath the keys, beside her shoes.

"Will your parents be home soon? They won't mind if I'm here?" Sam asked.

Andy's eyes darkened to a deep blue. She kept her gaze down carefully, having removed the sunglasses.

"They won't mind," she said simply, scratching Zeus's ear.

Sam sat on a cushion on the floor opposite Andy at the ring-stained coffee table. She opened her textbook and tapped at it with a pencil.

Andy snapped up, "Do you want anything to drink? I think I have some soda." She had rounded the corner into the small kitchen before Sam could respond.

"I'm fine, thanks," Sam called. Something was up with Andy. That much was obvious. Sam looked around the apartment again. There were no pictures on the walls, no artwork, no creative bowls on the counter… The couch was old, but in decent shape. Andy had thrown a sheet on it for the dogs, so not much was visible. There was an old washer and dryer in the hall before the staircase, and two stools at a breakfast bar. There was no TV, but there was a stereo on a table on the other side of the room, and a record player next to an organizer.

"Nice collection," Sam commented as Andy took her spot on the couch again.

Andy lifted her eyes to the records, "Thanks. There's just nothing like that little crackle before the music starts, is there?"

"Not in today's music," Sam agreed. "Mind if I look?"

Andy gestured with her pencil, "Go ahead. It's mostly '80s and '90s stuff, though."

Sam sifted through the covers, careful not to bend them. It was pretty common for people to be into old stuff these days, but Sam hadn't pegged Andy to be a trend-follower. This was probably her parents' collection.

Sam was about to ask Andy about it when her eyes caught sight of a large shotgun leaning against the wall in the corner of the room. Above it was a shelf with a few boxes of ammunition sitting on it. She froze. It wasn't like the Ecto-guns she was used to. This kind was for living creatures; that included humans. For some reason, the thought made chills go up Sam's arms.

"Uh, Andy?"

"Yeah?" Andy looked up from her spot on the couch in between the two dogs.

She followed Sam's gaze to the shotgun in the corner. "What's that for?"

"Protection." Andy smiled. "In my family, the Second Amendment was a religion. I've been shooting since I was little. Tradition, I guess. Don't worry. I haven't had to use it since I've arrived here." Andy noted Sam's discomfort. "This is America, Sam. Stars, stripes, and shotguns."

Andy felt the words slip from her mouth like a habit. She didn't remember hearing them before. The way they rolled off of her tongue told her she had said it many times before, but she couldn't remember when or why.

Sam relaxed, "I wish my family did cool stuff like that. All my parents talk about is status and other outdated nonsense." She sighed. "Where are your parents? I'd like to meet them sometime."

Andy's bright turquoise eyes deepened to sapphire and she looked back to her book, "They're out."

Sam could see that there was more to the story than what Andy was willing to share, but she didn't press the issue. "When did you move here, Andy?"

An indifferent white clouded the blue in Andy's eyes, not that Sam could see. "A few weeks ago."

"Do you like Amity Park so far? Other than the Ghosts I mean." Sam was trying to keep Andy talking. It was nearly impossible to get her talking at school, and Sam barely knew anything about her. She didn't want this friendship to be as one-sided as it was now. Andy seemed to get Sam. It wasn't hard for her to share her thoughts with anyone, but it was almost as if Andy understood her.

"Ghosts don't bother me a whole lot," Andy replied. _They're kind of my crowd._

"You're probably the only person in Amity Park to think so," Sam said. "Everyone else is terrified or annoyed."

"With all the property damage that happens around here, I can imagine," Andy laughed, recalling the few attacks she witnessed.

"There weren't always so many at once, though. Tucker and Danny and I—" she stopped mid-sentence, panic evident in her face, but Andy could feel it as well.

"You fight them," Andy finished before she could stop herself.

Sam looked nervous, "You saw, didn't you?"

Andy sighed, "You guys aren't exactly sly."

Sam flopped back down onto the cushion, "I tell Danny all the time that someone is going to catch him. I mean, he practically _yells_ that he's 'going Ghost' before he shifts."

Andy raised her brows, "I was just talking about you guys carrying weapons all the time, but it's good to know that about Danny for next time I see him."

Sam's eyes widened, "Oh my god."

"It's cool, Sam. I won't tell him you told me," Andy laughed. "I kinda saw him do it anyways."

Sam looked relieved. "I tell him all the time that someone will see him. I am surprised you're so cool about it though. Most people would freak out."

"It was weird to see at first, I admit," Andy replied. "I honestly thought I was hallucinating or something."

Sam laughed, "You should've seen him when it first happened. He couldn't control anything. He actually phased out of his pants a few times."

"A _few_ times?" Andy laughed. "Well, at least he managed to keep the underwear on."

Sam looked at her for a moment.

"He kept the underwear, right?" Andy asked, worried.

Sam burst out laughing again, "Thankfully, yes."

"Alright, so I have a question," Andy tapped the textbook with the eraser on her pencil. "Where do you guys get those guns?"

"Danny's parents own Fenton Works. They're Ghost Hunters. They have some cool technology, but they aren't very skilled with hunting down the Ghosts, so Danny got in on the family business." Sam wiped a stray laughing-tear from her face. "Danny couldn't do it alone, so Tucker and I stepped in."

Andy nodded, mentally noting the irony behind Danny Fenton's family business. "Well if you ever need any help…"

Sam looked into Andy's calm turquoise eyes, "Really?"

"Yeah," Andy nodded. "It seems fun."

Sam smiled back, "I might take you up on that offer."

…

Danny paced back and forth in his room. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid. He could see that look in the football player's eyes. He had been flirting with Sam. It was infuriating. He had walked right up to the guy and tugged him away by the arm, eyes blazing green the whole time.

Sam had a thing or two to say about that.

She'd gotten into an old GMC after school. It wasn't a vehicle he recognized, and _nobody_ in Sam's family would drive an old pickup. Danny assumed the worst until he saw the dark brown waves of hair under the black and white snapback.

 _Andy._

Andy had stood up for the three of them the first day they saw her Casper High. She and Sam had been hanging out a lot the past week. Danny hadn't talked to her, but Tucker had. It seemed the three of them had gone to Nasty Burger after school a few days in a row without him. He'd tried to join them, but his Ghost Sense always went off, tearing him away to some other part of town. When Danny was on patrol, he spied on them. He'd noticed that Andy didn't order anything, but didn't frown at Sam's salad or Tucker's open-mouthed chewing. Just as he got close enough to see better, his Ghost sense went off again, and he went in search of another specter.

He never found them. They eluded him, so he went home to wait for his two friends to show up.

When they did, they kept talking about _her._ 'Andy's a mechanic,' 'She is _so_ funny,' 'She's so tough,' 'She said this,' 'She said that.'

It irritated him. He couldn't tell why. He most definitely was _not_ jealous of her. His friends had just as much fun helping him Ghost hunt as they did watching Dash scurry out of their path when they walked the halls next to _her_.

Now Sam was with Andy, probably at her house since she wasn't home with her parents. He knew she wasn't; he'd checked. He had flown by Sam's bedroom window, but not even her backpack was there. She wasn't answering his texts, and Danny didn't have a clue where Andy lived. They were probably laughing about something Andy said, or laughing at Danny for some reason Danny had made up in his head.

"Quit pacing, dude. She'll get back to you when she blows off some steam," Tucker spoke up, watching Danny irritably from the desk chair. "You're wearing out the carpet."

"What if something happens while she's there? Andy doesn't know how to fight Ghosts! Sam left the wrist ray with you. They're unarmed!" He was working himself up. "What if there's a Ghost attack and they're too far away for my Ghost sense to detect?"

"There are three girls in Amity Park who are perfectly capable of defending themselves. Sam and Andy are two of them." Tucker's tone suggested he was tired of convincing Danny.

"Who's the third?" Danny asked, turning to look at his friend.

"You are, man," Tucker smirked.

Danny shot him a glare and continued pacing.

"I'm just kidding," Tucker sighed. "You can't handle yourself yet."

Danny ignored him this time. Tucker listened to the sound of his sneakers shuffling on the carpet for another few minutes.

"If I just knew where they were—"

"You'd just spy on them," Tucker interjected.

Danny frowned and continued pacing. "Maybe then, I'd stop worrying," he muttered.

Tucker frowned and pulled out his PDA.

…

The small device in Andy's pocket that she had come to know as a smartphone buzzed. It was from Tucker.

 _Are you guys ok?_

Andy laughed. _Is Danny freaking out because Sam is ignoring him?_

 _Obviously._

Andy laughed again, catching Sam's attention.

"Tucker messaged me. Danny's freaking out, and I think it's starting to drive Tucker crazy."

Sam rolled her eyes and smiled. "Good."

"How long are you going to make him suffer?" Andy set the phone down and leaned back on the couch, putting her foot on the edge of the old coffee table.

Sam shrugged, "I don't know."

"Want me to take you over there?" Andy offered. "You two should really make up, I mean, you've been best friends for most of your life."

Sam chewed her lip.

"Come on," Andy smiled. "Having a friend who cares a little too much isn't exactly grounds for punishment, Sam. If anything, you should be flattered that he was jealous enough to take on a Linebacker for you."

Sam blushed, "He's not jealous."

"You're as clueless as he is," Andy said under her breath. She stood up and threw on her sweatshirt. "Get your butt in the truck. We're going to see Danny."

Sam looked up, forcing a frown, "Are you usually this bossy?"

"Yes," Andy answered. "Bossy bitches get shit done. Let's go."

…

Andy notified Tucker of the plan to meet. She chose the park because of the dim lighting, and she didn't have to hide her eyes as much. As far as the others knew, it was for privacy. Tucker didn't say anything about the text, and dragged Danny to the park so he 'wouldn't wear down a trench in the carpet'. But all it made Danny do was wear down a dirt path in the grass.

Then he heard an old diesel pull into the empty parking lot and he stopped in his tracks. Who was out this late?

Sam looked to Andy, tearing her eyes away from Danny.

"You haven't met him yet, have you?" Sam asked.

"Not formally," Andy replied, putting the truck into park and stepping on the e-brake.

"Come hang out for a bit," Sam smiled. "It'll be fun."

Andy hesitated. She wasn't supposed to be around Danny. If it weren't for having to actually interact with Sam to keep her safe, Danny wouldn't know her at all. Clockwork knew that if Andy got involved with Danny, she would let her emotions cloud her judgement. Andy knew it too. Even from the safety of the old pickup, it hurt to look at him. It hurt even more to look at him looking for Sam.

"I don't know," Andy finally said. "It's late."

"Oh, come on," Sam twisted the key to 'off' and dropped them on the seat. "It's my turn to be bossy. Let's go."

She grabbed Andy's arm and towed her out the passenger side door. Andy got to her feet and stumbled behind Sam to the tree where Tucker sat and Danny stood in a rut.

Danny watched as Sam towed a figure behind her. That must be Andy. The dark waves and white hat matched the girl Sam mentioned earlier that week. But her eyes were too dark. They almost looked black in the dim light coming from the half moon and the distant glow of street lamps. A hiss of cold air fell from his lips.

He kept his ears open, but remained rooted in place. He wasn't going to ditch out on Sam and _Andy_ after today. The other Ghost could wait. He kept his glare on the black eyes that followed behind Sam.

Andy was panicked. She shouldn't be here. Clockwork had told her to stay away. She _had_ to stay away. She forced a polite smile and stood with her back to the streetlamps.

"Danny, this is Andy," Sam introduced. "Andy, this is Danny."

Danny's jaw worked irritably as he put on a face, "Nice to finally meet you."

"You too," Andy replied, grinding her teeth.

Sam and Tucker traded looks, noticing the tension.

"Thanks for giving Sam a ride over," Danny forced out.

Andy nodded, sinking inward at the hatred that rolled from him.

"Danny?" Sam's voice pulled Danny's forceful stare from Andy, allowing her to relax.

"Sam," Danny finally said, hatred draining to guilt. "Look I'm sorry. I was a jerk. I guess I just—"

"I forgive you," Sam sighed with a smile, blushing a little.

"You do?" Danny's face was confused.

Tucker elbowed Andy and they left the two to give them some space. They walked across the park, just out of human earshot. Andy sat on the swing and watched the two talk with shining sapphire eyes. Tucker sat beside her.

"What was that all about?" Tucker asked.

"What?" Andy looked to him.

"That tension," Tucker wrinkled his nose, lifting his glasses.

"I don't know," Andy furrowed her brows. "I don't think I did anything to him."

"Maybe you embarrassed him by defending us against Dash," Tucker smirked.

Andy snickered, "Did I hurt his pride with that one?"

Tucker shrugged, still smirking.

"Why hasn't he stood up to that overstuffed poodle?" Andy asked. "It's not like he'd lose."

"I don't know," Tucker replied. "I would've if I was him."

"Keeping cover?" Andy pondered aloud.

"What?" Tucker asked.

"His cover," Andy looked back at him. "You know," she looked around before leaning in to whisper. "Danny _Phantom_."

Tucker lifted a brow, "How'd you figure it out?"

Andy gave him a look, "Pfft, as if it was some secret. The guy shifts out in the open all the time. And 'going Ghost'? Really? He might as well tattoo the logo onto his forehead."

Tucker laughed, "We tell him all the time how loud he is when he yells that. It's his catch phrase, though."

"It is catchy," Andy agreed humorously.

They sat in silence for a few minutes just watching the other two teens blush awkwardly.

Tucker sighed.

"I'm as tired of it as you are," she said to him.

"What?"

"Their tiptoeing," Andy clarified, tilting her head toward them. "I've only known you guys a week and it's wearing on my nerves."

"Join the club, we've got jackets," Tucker responded. "Some of us are betting on when they'll get together."

"That's horrible," Andy turned. "Where do I sign up?"

Tucker laughed heartily, and Andy chuckled. Her good mood lasted until she looked back and saw them hugging. Her eyes blazed green, then deepened back to blue. She needed to leave.

"I should get going. I have to feed the hellhounds," Andy said, standing up from the swing.

"What?" Tucker asked.

"My dogs. It's chow time," Andy replied, waving while walking backwards to the parking lot.

She made it to her truck and patted her pocket. Feeling nothing, she peeked into the dirty window.

"Dammit," she bit out. The keys were right there on the seat where she'd left them as Sam towed her out of the truck.

"Andy!" Sam came walking up.

Andy turned, smiling politely upon seeing Danny had waited by the tree instead of following Sam to the diesel.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Home. I have to feed Zeus and Hades." Andy concentrated on using her intangibility to unlock the door from within. "They get grumpy if I make them wait too long." A more sincere smile stretched across her face as her fingers found the lock.

"But you didn't get to hang out with Danny," she replied. "I'd kinda like it if we could all sit together at lunch."

"Oh," Andy was panicking. If she spent time around the three of them, something was bound to slip. She had only spent five days around Sam, and she had already started talking about her dad. "Maybe some other time."

Andy popped the door open and hopped up into the driver's seat. She waved to Sam and Tucker as she drove off. Danny just glared after her, making her gut turn into an empty pit.

She drove most of the way home just listening to the sound of the engine and trying to ease the ache of her predicament.

After she crossed the railroad tracks again, Clockwork appeared in the passenger seat. He wore the same expression he always did; patient and all-knowing.

It really pissed her off.

"Don't say it. I'm trying," Andy grumbled, gripping the steering wheel with both hands. "I can't get him and Sam together if I never talk to him, now can I?"

Clockwork waited patiently.

"I'm sorry," Andy breathed. "I really am trying, I swear."

"I know you are," he smiled knowingly and waved his staff, disappearing.

 _Dammit, couldn't he have gotten someone else to do this?_


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The dead don't sleep. Andy had been alone to her thoughts throughout the night since she arrived. Hellhounds did sleep. Deeply, one might add. Zeus and Hades' snoring had carried down from the apartment into the garage, wearing on Andy's already fraying  
/nerves. Fed up, she decided to patrol.

Her Ghostly form without Clockwork's humanistic disguise was unusual. She had left all of her features behind. All she was to others was a silhouette with changing eyes. She had nearly forgotten what she truly looked like after she died, becoming so accustomed  
/to her shadowed self. It was all Phantom had seen when she released him, and only Clockwork and the hounds had seen her as both.

She flew by Sam's house to check in. The goth was asleep in her appropriately-decorated room, tucked into a cave-like canopy bed. Judging by the bliss floating around her, Andy assumed a certain pair of ocean blue irises occupied her subconscious. She  
/couldn't really blame Sam for that, no matter how much easier it would've made things.

Andy took to the sky again. It was still quite warm out, not that she could really tell. Her skin would never feel the true temperature of the air again. Hell, the only reason she still felt real emotion was because of her abilities. In order to manipulate  
/them in others, she had to be sensitive to their unique signature. She wished she didn't feel them. There was a reason the dead left certain things behind.

She sat on the edge of an abandoned building at the docks when her patrol was done. Dawn was still hours away, and she didn't want to go back to the noisy apartment just yet. She grabbed the pendant that hung hidden in her shadowed form, eyeing its shape  
/carefully. Phantom had made it for her. It wasn't just an ice crystal. It had its own ecto-signature. It alone was what gave her the ability to control ice. Phantom had promised he would return for her as he rolled her fingers around it and clasped  
/them tight. He'd kissed her forehead before he departed, leaving his promise to echo in her mind. That's what the gift symbolized. Andy had wanted to believe that he truly cared about her, that he may even have grown to love her in some way. But she  
/knew Clockwork was right. He was always right.

 _Damn him and his stupid rightness._

But it had felt so real. The way he looked at her when he set foot outside of the Thermos, the way he touched her face, the way he smiled when her eyes changed… Andy wanted to believe that no one, not even Phantom could fake that.

Pulling her from her thoughts, a hiss of icy air fell from where her lips should be. She disappeared and kept her black eyes darting.

"Show yourself," a voice came from a few yards away.

"You first," Andy lowered her voice slightly. Her face was hidden by her shadowy Ghost form, but she was risking nothing.

Danny appeared. His hair was a white so pure that it glowed in the light of the half moon. His eyes searched for hers, glowing a mesmerizing, hypnotic green. She felt her heart sinking in her empty chest.

Danny searched the night for the voice. A figure appeared. It was only a shadow; a woman's shadow, with slender curves, wild waves, and sapphire eyes. It floated before him calmly, not taking any sort of offensive stance the way other Ghosts did when  
/they saw him. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest and her feet hanging in the air. This wasn't a typical Ghost. It almost seemed benevolent.

"Who are you?" Danny asked, prepared for the worst.

"A friend," she replied calmly, remaining where she was. "You must be Inviso-Bill."

Danny frowned at the name, earning a low laugh from the other Ghost.

"I'm just messing with you," she said amiably, sitting in midair and hugging her knees. "Everyone in the Ghost Zone knows Danny Phantom."

"And nobody in the Ghost Zone knows the sarcastic Shadow Ghost?" Danny asked.

"Not by name," she answered. "But, then again, I don't have a Human counterpart."

Danny furrowed a brow.

"Don't worry, Fenton," her turquoise eyes pushed up from underneath in a polite smile. "I won't tell anybody."

Danny looked skeptical, "How do I know if I can trust you?"

"You don't," the Ghost replied simply. "I don't, either."

Danny's discomfort grew. He crossed his arms, "Show me your face."

The figure put her hands up, eyes glowing a rich purple, "You're going to have to buy me dinner first."

Danny frowned, "I don't have time for your jokes."

"That's going to affect our relationship, then, isn't it?" the Ghost replied. She laughed, a bell-like sound, "Unfortunately for me, I have more time than I know what to do with."

"Why is that?" Danny was losing his patience.

The Ghost turned her head to face him, eyes fading to gray, "I'm dead. Time means nothing to me anymore. You, however, don't seem to view it that way."

"I'm not unlimited like you," Danny grumbled. "I have places to be." He pulled out a thermos.

"Oh, you brought coffee," the Ghost quipped, nearing him amiably. "Oh wait, I'm dead. I can't drink coffee. You cruel bastard!"

"I see your humor followed you beyond the grave," Danny replied, unscrewing the cap.

"Well, not all of us get a superhero outfit. Sometimes you take what you can get," she pulled at the fabric on Danny's shoulder and let it snap back like elastic. Danny looked down at his suit, then back up at her with a frown. A smile would have appeared  
/on her face if she had a mouth.

"Why so grumpy, Danny?" she asked. "Girl trouble?"

Danny gave the Ghost an annoyed glare, pointing the thermos at her.

"Look, you don't want to do that," seriousness dimmed her tone, and she was still somewhat close to him. Her eyes became turquoise again.

"Why not, pray tell?" he asked, trying not to shiver.

"My quarrel is not with you." She gestured at him with a hand on her hip, "Well, not _this_ you."

Danny's brows furrowed, "What do you mean?"

The Ghost's smile was evident in her voice as she whispered to him, "You'll soon see what I mean." She rounded him until they were face-to-face again, "Until then, stay out of my way."

"If I don't?" Green energy glowed around Danny's free hand.

Orange glowed around the stranger's hands in response, "Don't make me threaten you. I have a terrible habit of following through on my promises."

"Try this on for size then," he shot at the figure.

Andy dodged the blast just in time for it to miss her torso, but it clipped her upper arm. She glared at him with burning red eyes, "Dammit, Fenton, that's my favorite arm!"

She shot back orange, hitting the hand that he threw up as a reflex to protect his face.

He was knocked back to the ground with the force of the orange blast. The stranger stood over him, a silhouette of curved legs and arms crossed over a feminine chest, one arm smoking from his hit.

"This could've gone so much better if you weren't so damn _emotional_ ," she sighed.

Danny grit his teeth with the sting on his hand. "This could've gone better if you were back in the Ghost Zone where you belong!"

He tried to sit up quickly and shoot at her, but she kicked out his arm and shoved his chest back with her palm, making his breath catch.

"Stay out of my way, kid. I've been dead longer and tricked far more skilled than you."

Danny felt his suit begin to freeze to the concrete beneath him, holding him in place.

"I'll see you soon, whoever you are," he threatened.

"I'm sure you'll find a way," the Ghost replied, a wicked smile not visible under her malevolent purple eyes, but audible in her voice. "Maybe bring your manners instead of a high-tech coffee mug, hm?"

With that, the stranger vanished, and Danny felt the ice melt as it left the area.

Andy stopped by Sam's once more to do a quick check before heading home. Danny's blast left a nasty burn on her upper arm. She cringed as she cleaned it. Hopefully it would heal quickly. If he was half as smart as Phantom, it would be a dead giveaway.

It was a few hours until the majority of the humans would wake, so she spent the wee hours of morning working on a project car. It was a gray 1970 Chevelle, just like in her human life. Sam asked about it when she was there earlier. Andy slipped and told  
/her it was her dad's favorite, and she was building it for him. Andy remembered quite a bit about her dad, and she felt bad not sharing when Sam had opened up a lot. Her story about the car was only part of the truth, Sam could tell. Thankfully, she  
/didn't press the subject.

But Andy still kept thinking about meeting the younger Phantom. He _hated_ her. He hated her Ghost self and her Human disguise, it seemed. The Ghost part, Andy understood. But she couldn't quite figure out why he would hate her Human disguise. As  
/much as it hurt, she knew it was best.

But that didn't make the burn on her arm or in her hollow chest any easier to take.

…

Danny was up early and met Sam and Tucker at the park. He was fueled by irritation, and he wasn't sure where it stemmed from exactly. His meeting with Andy wouldn't have made him mad for this long, but the Ghost last night had made a fool of him. He had  
/called Sam and Tucker together to combine efforts and take the bitch down. Neither of them was thrilled about it.

"This couldn't have waited until noon?" Tucker yawned. "It's Saturday."

"No," Danny whispered as they walked to a booth at the back of the nearly empty café with their food.

"I don't suppose you were just excited to see us," Sam quipped, taking a bite of oatmeal.

Danny eyed her irritably. "I met the new Ghost last night."

Sam and Tucker suddenly became alert, frozen mid-bite of their breakfast.

"She was over by your place, Sam," he said, worried.

"You fought her, I'm guessing," Sam replied, completing her bite and dipping the spoon back into the bowl.

"Wait," Tucker interrupted, gesturing with a strip of bacon. "It's a _her_?"

Danny nodded, showing them the bandage on his hand. "She shot at me. Orange, just like you saw earlier this last week."

Sam peaked under the bandage, seeing a dreadful burn that split his skin. "Why aren't you healing?"

"I am," Danny replied. "I'm just healing at a human pace."

"Why?" Tucker asked.

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out," Danny answered, his voice determined.

"Why don't we call Andy?" Sam suggested.

"Yeah! She'd love to hunt down a Ghost," Tucker added excitedly.

"I'll call her," Sam pulled out her phone. "She's most likely up by now."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Danny interrupted, an annoyed expression crossing his face. "Why would calling Andy possibly be a solution? Haven't you two seen enough of her already?"

"She said she wanted to help," Sam said.

"She could be an asset, Danny," Tucker informed.

"She shoots regular guns already. I doubt she would struggle with your parents' guns."

"We don't need her help," Danny snapped. "We didn't before, and we don't now." That Ghost last night had caught him off guard. He wasn't about to trust some random stranger to catch a trickster Ghost.

"Fine, jeez." Sam pacified, slipping her phone back into the pocket of her sweatshirt.

…

Andy had gotten a call that morning that someone's car broke down and needed a tow and a repair, so she hitched a trailer to the diesel and drove into town.

The girl whose car broke down had long red hair and introduced herself as Jazz. She continued to chatter as Andy hooked up the wench to get the dinky little sedan onto the trailer, much to Andy's vexation.

"You look a little young to be a mechanic," she said, finally requiring another person be part of the conversation.

"I am," Andy replied simply.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen." _When I stopped aging._

"Is your boss off for the weekend?" Jazz asked.

"Something like that," Andy was becoming annoyed with this redhead's questions.

"What happened to your arm?" she asked, wide blue eyes searching her face.

Andy looked to the gauze wrapping over the burn Danny gave her. "Welding incident."

"You look really familiar," she pondered for a minute. "Do you go to Casper High?"

"Yeah," Andy grunted, tightening the ratchet straps to hold the car in place.

"Do you know my brother?" she asked.

"I don't know, who's your brother?" Andy turned to her, eyes an annoyed charcoal gray behind dark lenses.

"Danny Fenton," she replied.

Andy pretended to search her brain for a match to the name. But she knew _exactly_ who Danny was. "Actually, I met him briefly. I'm friends with Sam Manson and Tucker Foley."

"You're friends with Sam and Tucker but not Danny?" Jazz asked, raising a brow. "How did that happen?"

Andy popped her gum, leaning against the trailer's wheel wells. She shrugged, "I guess he's not too fond of me."

"Oh, don't be silly. Danny doesn't dislike anybody," Jazz exclaimed.

Andy shrugged. "He has a funny way of being polite then."

"Well that just won't do. Why don't you come to Fenton Works tonight for dinner and the two of you will get better acquainted? It would be a great way for you to meet more people and I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind. Oh, I can't wait to tell Danny!"

Andy stood in silence, her eyes a panicked black, wide behind the glasses.

She shook it off, "Look, I'm just here for the car. Do you need a ride somewhere before I take it back to the garage?"

"Oh, no. Don't be silly. I'm coming with you," Jazz smiled and walked to the passenger door of the diesel.

Andy started to grind her teeth together as Jazz tugged on the door.

She walked over and gave the door a shove while pushing the latch button. "There's a trick to it."

Jazz hopped in cheerfully and Andy shut the door. She walked back to fake checking the hitch and tie-downs again. She texted Sam.

 _I'm stuck with your friend's sister for the next few hours. If you never see me again, it's because she talked me to death._

Sam replied just before Andy got to the door. _Well, it was nice knowing you XD_

 _Also, apparently I'm going to be at dinner tonight…at Danny's house… Help me._

…

Sam had just sent Andy a text when Danny sat back down in the booth with a plate of pancakes.

"Jazz needed a mechanic, I guess. Poor Andy is stuck with her," she laughed.

Tucker snorted around a mouth full of bacon. "Andy's tough, but Jazz will probably talk her to death."

Danny took a bite of his food.

Sam stirred her bowl of oatmeal, "Apparently, Jazz invited her to dinner at your place tonight, Danny."

Danny stopped chewing his food and looked up at Sam, "What."

Tucker crunched on a piece of bacon, "This oughta be good."

"Why would Jazz do that?" Danny frowned. "She doesn't even know Andy."

"Oh, stop it," Sam stopped him before he could continue. "You're just grumpy because you don't like her."

"Well, I don't. I don't trust her. You're the only one who actually knows anything concrete about her. All week of the three of you hanging out and all I know about her is that she's a mechanic and she's _sooo funny_." Danny distorted his voice  
/for emphasis, frowning deeply

Sam cleared her throat, "Her birthday is October sixth, she has two dogs named Zeus and Hades, her taste in movies seems to stay in the 80's, she hates fish, her favorite color is blue, her favorite band is Matchbox Twenty, but her favorite song is "Cherry  
/Pie" by a band called Warrant, and she hate's most of today's clothing."

"Do you know her Social Security number, too?" Tucker replied sarcastically.

"What about her family?" Danny raised a brow. "Criminals? Drunks?"

She ignored the last comment, "Her parents are never around by the sounds of things, but her Dad was how she got into cars. They were really close, apparently." Sam took a bite of oatmeal.

"That's it?" Danny asked, his full attention focused on their conversation. "A week of hanging out with her and that's _all_ you know about her family?"

"Andy isn't very open. It's strange. Whenever she shares something, she looks guilty afterward, like her personal life is supposed to be a secret." Sam poked at a berry in her bowl.

"She strikes me as the mischievous type," Tucker interjected around a mouth full of a sausage patty. "Secretive and sneaky, like she fakes minding her own business but secretly knows everything about everyone."

"Yeah, she gets this evil little smirk when someone does something stupid. Like when Mr. Lancer had his coffee incident. The whole class was laughing, but she just looked devious," Sam added. "She's smart enough to figure out people's secrets. I don't  
/know how much she knows."

"You mean when he poured coffee on himself," Danny corrected, turning over Sam's last comment in his mind.

Sam gripped her spoon tight and frowned, "I'm telling you, it wasn't just a normal spill!"

"Whatever you say, Sam," Tucker smirked.

"So all you guys know is basic stuff? Do you even know her eye color?" Danny asked sarcastically.

"Gray," said Tucker.

"Blue," Sam said at the same time.

They looked at each other for a moment.

"They're like a charcoal gray," Tucker said. "I made note of it when I was telling her about the new iPhone that's coming out. I mean, the one time she _wasn't_ wearing her sunglasses."

"No they aren't. They're a turquoise color. I talk to her every day and…" Sam broke off for a moment. She was about to say 'eyes don't change color' but looking back at it, Andy's eyes caught light just right sometimes and almost looked like different  
/colors. Sam didn't really think about it until that moment.

"And what?" Tucker asked.

Sam looked up, "Nothing. I just drifted for a minute."

"Well, we'll settle it tonight at Danny's dinner party," Tucker elbowed him, chewing on a breakfast sausage.

Danny frowned, brows low.

…

Andy had taken about two hours to fix Jazz's car. She worked in record time trying to get a little peace and quiet. The girl just _kept talking._ Andy doubted she could collect all the words she had ever said, both in life and afterlife, and

match the number of words Jazz had said since they had met.

When she finally paid and drove off, Andy let out a sigh of relief. Then Jazz called out that she would see Andy at seven for dinner.

"If she ever becomes a Ghost, she could literally talk people to death as a superpower," Hades barked.

"Well, all three of us are already dead, so there's no way to test that theory," Zeus replied.

Andy rubbed her temples. "I don't know how humans have so much to say. It's like they live to make noise."

Zeus cackled, "Let us know how that dinner goes."

Andy glared at him before going upstairs to clean up.

…

Andy pulled up to Fenton Works in her old pickup. She'd cleaned herself up and scrounged through her clothes for nicer jeans and a black, v-neck tee. She nixed the hat and glasses, and made an effort to tame the frizz of her hair into somewhat smooth  
/waves. She pulled the leather jacket tighter around her, knowing the temperature outside was cold to humans. Danny's Ghost Sense would go off as soon as she walked in, but hopefully any technology that detected Ghosts would find him first.

She knocked once on the door and wrapped her arms around herself. Jazz answered.

"Hi, Andy," she greeted happily. "Mom, Dad! Andy's here!"

Andy was about to greet her, but Jazz tugged her inside.

"Come on in, it's freezing out there!" Jazz continued. "The dining room is just through here. Tucker, Sam, Danny, and my parents are cooking."

They walked through a large living room into the kitchen. Andy inhaled the scent of something cheesy as they reached the doorframe between the living room and the kitchen.

"Hey, Andy," Sam waved over a cutting board.

"Glad you could make it," Tucker greeted, drying a few cooking utensils.

A woman in a blue and black jumpsuit pulled a casserole dish from the oven and turned around. She had a short, A-line haircut that was red-brown, and red lipstick. She smiled at Andy as she set it down on a set table.

"It's nice to meet you, Andy," she took off an oven mitt and stuck her hand out. "I'm Danny's mother, Maddie Fenton."

"Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. F.," Andy greeted, shaking her hand.

"This is Danny's father, Jack Fenton," she gestured to a large man in an orange and black jumpsuit. He turned around with a large remote-looking device in his hand. He whacked at it, cursing lowly.

"Jack," Maddie cleared her throat. "Jack!"

He looked up, "Oh, you must be Sandy. I'm Jack Fenton of Fenton Works. Nice to meet you." He stuck out a large hand and Andy shook it firmly.

"It's Andy," Jazz corrected, annoyed.

"That's what I said, Jazzy-pants," he replied, looking back down at his gadget.

Andy shot a questioning glance to Maddie, who shook her head.

Danny was sitting at the table, directly across from where his mother sat Andy. He glared at her as she chatted with Sam. Tucker could feel the tension rolling off of him, but decided to ignore it.

Danny found it infuriating that Andy was charming her way into his family's hearts. Particularly his mother's. Andy talked about the decade his parents were in college as if she lived it. They made jokes Danny didn't get, which only made him more irritated.

"So Jazz told me you had just moved here," Maddie continued.

"A few weeks ago," Andy replied, taking another bite of food, though she didn't taste it.

"Where from?" Maddie asked, poking at a tomato from the salad.

Andy tried to remain calm. She didn't actually remember where she was from. "My parents had a little house out in the middle of nowhere," she answered.

"No wonder you like it outside of town," Sam took a bite of salad.

"I'm used to the quiet," Andy smiled, grateful that an exact location wasn't needed.

"Does that mean there aren't any Ghosts out there?" Jack asked, looking up from his plate.

"Nothing like in the city," Andy answered, taking another bite. "Nothing for them to destroy out there, I guess."

"Dangit," he turned his head back down at the device.

"Better for your dogs, huh?" Sam wrinkled her nose.

"You have dogs?" Jazz asked.

"Two big Rottweilers," Andy answered around a bite of garlic bread. "Sam's met them."

Sam made a face as Andy snickered. Danny glared at her over crossed arms, like he had since she sat down.

"They ambushed me in their nasty slobber," Sam made a noise of disgust as the rest of the table, sans Danny, laughed.

"They sensed you were a cat person," Andy laughed. "They can always tell."

"Danny, you've hardly said a word," Maddie noted. "And you've barely touched your food."

Danny looked up.

"Do you not like it?" she asked, motherly concern crossing her face.

"That can't be it, Mrs. F.," Andy interjected before she could stop herself. "It's delicious."

"Well thank you, Andy," Maddie smiled.

The conversation resumed, and so did Danny's glare. He couldn't believe how well they were getting along with her. They were practically eating out of her hands.

It pissed him off even more when he got stuck with the dishes after dinner, and everyone else went down to show Andy the lab. Even Sam and Tucker had ditched him. He grumbled to himself as he scrubbed each dish roughly, the green glow of his eyes flooding  
/the sudsy sink.

His Ghost Sense had gone off earlier that night, but he didn't trust Andy enough to leave her here while he went and looked for it. Instead, he'd sat there and watched her put on a façade of friendliness. His parents completely fell for it. Even Jazz  
/wasn't trying to psychoanalyze her. It was like they were under a spell or something. Her golden eyes would meet his every few minutes, and he swore they would flash purple.

A breath of icy air escaped his lips again, and he looked around. Nothing was happening at all. No obnoxious laughter or floating objects. He simply frowned and dried the last plate.

He heard footsteps a moment later. Turning, he spied Andy on the steps, looking at photographs as she slowly ascended.

"What are you doing?" Danny snapped.

Andy jumped and turned around, "Oh, it's you."

Danny stood at the food of the steps with his arms crossed. "Yeah, me. What are you doing?"

Andy furrowed her brows. She pointed behind her with her thumb, "Looking for the can. Your sister said there was one upstairs. I'm not gonna go through your stuff if that's what you're glaring at me for."

"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked.

"You don't," Andy replied simply. "You can never know if you can trust someone. However, that doesn't stop the call of nature, does it?"

Danny squinted as she continued up the stairs. Something about her _bothered_ him. He couldn't put a finger on what it was. He waited at the bottom of the stairs for her to return.

Andy made it up to the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She had held that food in for too long. She worked on incinerating it in her gut, opening the window to blow out the smoke. She waved her hand and sprayed air freshener, missing the regular  
/way of digesting food.

When she rounded the corner to the stairs, she saw Danny waiting. She frowned, eyes turning grey.

"You lost?" she asked.

"Waiting," he replied lowly.

"For…?" Andy descended the stairs.

"You to be done," he answered.

"What's your problem?" she reached him and put her hands on her hips.

"I don't have a problem," he growled.

Andy didn't break eye contact, "Bullshit."

He frowned deeper, looking down his nose at her, despite only six inches of height difference.

"Look, I didn't want to be here, either," she said, putting her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "Your sister didn't give me much of a choice."

"Hm." Danny looked pensive.

"Level with me here," Andy pleaded angrily, gesturing in short jerks between the two of them.

Danny wasn't giving in at all. "I don't trust you."

"Understandable," she replied, unoffended. "You don't know me."

"Does anybody?" he snapped.

"But I know you," she said. "Danny Phantom."

Danny's eyes widened. "Did you trick Sam and Tucker into telling you?"

Andy laughed genuinely, "They didn't have to. I saw you change. You aren't as sly as you think. Just because there's chaos doesn't mean nobody is watching."

Danny glared.

Andy put her hands up in surrender. "I haven't told anyone and I won't."

Danny squinted, "Why?"

"What would I gain from selling you out?" she shrugged. "Doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

"No blackmail threats?" Danny raised a brow.

"You don't have anything I need, and there's nothing you can do that I can't do myself," she answered.

"I'm still surprised you aren't jumping at this opportunity," he leaned against the wall.

"We all have secrets, Danny." Andy met his eyes in the dim light.

Danny made a pensive face, taking her words as clues.

She rolled her eyes at him, "I know you think I'm some heinous beast, but I'm actually a decent person."

"I can tell that some part of you is exactly that," Danny growled.

"A decent person?" Andy raised a brow.

"A heinous beast," Danny corrected.

Andy lowered her brows. "As fun as irritating you all night has been, I need to get going."

She brushed his shoulder as she passed, walking down to the lab to say goodbye. Danny remained rooted to his spot, grinding his teeth as the five people in the lab came up the stairs.

They walked her out, waving from the front door as she drove off in that noisy old pickup.

Danny turned her words over in his head. She meant _something_ when she was talking to him. He was going to uncover her secrets just like she had uncovered his. Even if he didn't use them against her, he wanted leverage in case she ever got devious  
/enough to try something.

…

Andy had enjoyed getting o Danny's nerves. She'd purposely said cryptic phrases to egg him on. It was just so _easy._ The more his friends and family liked her, the more he couldn't stand her. She'd cheated a little, of course. She didn't dare use  
/her powers on him, but she did a little on his parents and sister. That was mostly just to irritate him. Though it felt good to be around a family, it was mostly for Danny's vexation.

She drove home somewhat content. Maddie had hugged her goodbye and told her she was welcome back any time, and Danny fumed behind her. He was all too easy to irritate.

She laid steaks in the dog bowls and flopped onto the couch. Zeus and Hades flopped on either side of her moments later, licking their chops appreciatively.

"How'd dinner with Inviso-Bill's family go?" Hades quipped.

"His name isn't 'Inviso-Bill'," Andy laughed. "And it went well. He still can't stand me."

"But you're such a delight!" Zeus faked shock dramatically.

Andy gave him a look of feigned annoyance. "I am, aren't I?" she smiled.

Hades opened his jowls to speak, but his ear twitched and his jaw snapped shut. He had heard something, and Zeus did too. Andy strained her ears.

A faint sound in the distance. Inhuman. It made her skin tingle. A Ghost was making it.

Andy's disguise disappeared and she flew out of the apartment, the two Hellhounds right on her heels.

She heard it too, oddly enough. It was a wail. The sound carried harmlessly over the ears of the living but rang in the hollow heads of the deceased. Andy flew to it.

The night was dark, and the moon had yet to rise. When she located the source of the noise, she almost laughed out loud.

She landed soundlessly in the empty field, Zeus and Hades behind her. Their disguises disappeared when hers did, and any Ghost would be a fool to not fear the appearance of a Hellhound. Their skeleton was visible through translucent skin, but they were  
/covered in ectoplasmic muscle. Zeus's was black and crackled like lightning, living up to Andy's pet name. Hades was consumed in a mane of black flames, hence his name.

When the howler turned, startled by her laughing, his face paled. She knew the three of them looked terrifying, with her glowing red eyes and the elongated fangs of her companions.

"Did you bring your manners this time, Fenton?" she growled through her laughter.

"I hoped I would find you," he said, ignoring her banter.

Andy tilted her head, knowing facial expressions were useless in this form, "Why is that?"

Danny's white hair tossed from his eyes as he looked into her yellow-eyed gaze. "I have questions."

Andy let out a loud laugh, "And what makes you think I'll answer them?"

Danny's eyes traced the Ghost's figure as she walked toward him. She swished her hips in a way that made him nervous, and her yellow eyes darkened to a velvety red like the petals of a rose. Danny swallowed thickly.

"Incentive," he bit out, ripping off the blackened necklace from her throat. As soon as its contact with her was broken, the shadow cleared, and its true features were revealed.

The velvet red of the Ghost's eyes burned an enraged crimson. "You are either very brave or very stupid."

"Leverage," he replied calmly. Holding it over a ball of ecto-energy.

The Ghost crossed her arms over her chest and the Hellhounds growled deeply.

"You forgot your manners again, _kid_ ," she growled.

"Who are you?" he bit out.

"No one you know," she hissed.

"Why are you here?" he was getting impatient.

The Ghost's eyes cooled to blue. "Clockwork sent me to help you."

"Help me what?" Danny asked. When the Ghost didn't reply, he lowered the necklace closer to his glowing hand.

"You aren't supposed to know yet," she replied in a low, malicious voice. "Don't get your jumpsuit in a bunch."

"What is this?" he gestured to the necklace.

The Ghost's eyes turned rosy pink as she looked at the crystal, "It is an object from my past." It wasn't a lie, but she couldn't really answer that question without bringing up other ones.

Her eyes dimmed to gray as she lifted her gaze to his eyes. "If there is more that you want to know, pay the watchman a visit. I'm just serving my time," she held her hand out for the necklace. "If you please."

Danny looked at the necklace. He had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't place it. It was a crystal of ice in a glass cylinder with silver caps on both ends on a long silver chain.

"I think I'm going to keep it for a while," he smiled. "Just in case I need a favor."

The Ghost hissed, "So help me, I will _end_ you!"

The Hellhounds snarled behind her silhouette. She stood inches from his face, floating to see eye to eye.

"Leave now if you're wise, but I will find you. And when I do, you won't be glad to see me." Burning red irises bore into fiercely green ones.

His face was inches from hers. "You're not getting this back until I hand it over," he replied sternly. "I'll be carrying it with me every moment."

"You think I won't cause a scene when you cavort around with your human friends? You think I won't have _my_ leverage?"

He could feel her warm breath on his face. His fear and anger faded away.

"You won't do that." He was confident, looking into her blazing eyes, "Clockwork has enough of a hold on you to make sure of that."

The blazing red dulled to an annoyed charcoal, "Perhaps he does." She drew in closer until her nose brushed his. "But can _you_ stop me from taking it?"

Her suggestive tone dulled his senses, and he struggled to focus on the task at hand.

Even as a shadow, she had long lashes. He couldn't help but watch as her irises shifted their colors.

She ran her hand over his reflexively tightened abdomen, the light touch of her warm fingers leaving blushing trails on his skin. Heat rose to his face, but he didn't stop her.

"Give it back," she whispered. He was surprised to feel the brushing of soft lips on his ear, and his eyelids fluttered as her fingers traced their way over his chest and down his arm. She dragged her lips down across his cheekbone and to the corner of  
/his mouth as her fingers brushed his. His grip on the cold silver chain loosened at his side as her lips matched to his. He let his eyes close and warmth spread in his stomach.

Andy focused relentlessly on the necklace, trying desperately to ignore how easy it was to manipulate him without using her powers. She tried not to enjoy what she was doing, for fear of losing herself in it. She locked her hand around the cold chain  
/and saw its glow fade to black in the edge of her vision.

He locked his fingers around the chain, but didn't move otherwise. "You're going to have to do better than that," he told her in a husked voice.

Her eyes turned devilishly purple as he smashed his lips to hers. She tangled her fingers in his hair as he gripped her torso tightly and pulled her to him. She bit his bottom lip and he smiled, laughing maniacally into her lips.

She snatched the necklace from the hand that gripped her hip. She pulled away from him, holding his bottom lip in her teeth. The look on his face told her he was completely fine with being taken advantage of.

"I can always do better. Don't ever underestimate me," she floated back from him, leaving traces of her warmth on his skin. He watched as she donned the shadow of a necklace.

"As much fun as you are," she smiled, eyes glowing a rich purple, "I can't have you following me either."

A flash of orange took over his vision as the creatures behind her rushed him, and he blacked out.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Andy was out early the next morning, taking Zeus and Hades for a walk across the empty fields by the garage she was staying at. She kept thinking about Danny, even though she knew she shouldn't. Kissing him felt like temptation being carefully fed, but not fully indulged. It felt as if she was tempted by him only in a part of herself. She knew why, too.

He was Danny. He wasn't Phantom.

Of course, they were partially the same person, if Andy remembered the story correctly. Danny was her teen prince charming with a hero side. Phantom was so much more. He was the desired fantasy behind her eyelids in the dead of night. He had a malevolent side that she craved in ways no living being could fathom.

She knew what she wanted, now, in death. But in a twist of fate crueler than her life, she was doomed to roam the afterlife without him. Even worse, she would be the one to aid his demise.

Zeus barked in alarm, tearing her from her thoughts. She held no leashes on them, so when they both took off, she had to run to keep up.

Their massive paws dug up frost-covered earth as they bolted. An ordinary human would never keep up with their speed, and Andy fought the urge to simply fly behind them. She was never a fan of running in her life, and found it impractical in death. She grumbled to herself as she fought to keep up with them.

When she saw what they were referring to, she felt a drop where her heart used to be.

In the same field as the night before, was a boy, about her disguise's age. With midnight-black hair that was frigid with the morning's frost and lips that were purple from the cold, he laid in the crisp grass, still as she imagined she was in her grave.

She rushed to him, dropping to her knees beside him in the crisp grass and pulling him into her lap while trying desperately not to fall to a blubbering mess. She was terrified that she might have killed him. She hadn't meant to hurt him. She only wanted to knock him out so he wouldn't follow her home.

She dropped her ear to his chest to listen for a heartbeat. She almost cried out in relief when she heard it, and stripped off her hoodie to drape around his frost-stiffened tee shirt.

She hefted him up onto her back, almost piggy-back style, holding his heavy arms to keep him up as she rushed the quarter-mile distance back to the garage. Zeus and Hades trotted behind her, flopping on their respective couch cushions as Andy laid Danny's frigid form on the springy mattress in her room. She rushed to the kitchen and threw on a kettle of water, then grabbed every towel in her tiny apartment.

She made a cup of hot tea and soaked a washcloth with the hot water. She dabbed his purple cheeks with the washcloth until they began to lose their blue-purple hue. She stripped him down to his boxers and redressed him in some conveniently-stocked men's gym shorts, socks, and a plain tee shirt.

He was still chilly when she was finished dressing and drying him, but he hadn't awakened. She sat against the wall and pulled him and a pillow into her lap, tucking blankets around his body. She continued dabbing his face with the washcloth when she looked down and saw his wrapped hand.

She gently crawled out from under Danny's head and delicately removed the filthy gauze, exposing the charred gash across his palm.

"What have I done to you?" her voice was barely a whisper.

Andy gently cleaned the wound, earning twitches of pain from his sleeping face. She gently rewrapped his hand, and just before she was finished, he opened his eyes.

He gasped like he could finally breathe after being submerged under water. He tried to sit up, but Andy put her hand on his chest to hold him down.

"Shh, hey calm down." She dabbed at his face with the warm washcloth and finished dressing the gash. "Are you alright?"

Danny looked at her with wide, rounded eyes, "Am I alright? Are you serious? Where am I? What are you doing?"

Andy pushed him back to lay down, "This is my apartment. I found you in a field about a quarter of a mile from here. You were unconscious and covered in frost. I've spent the last few hours trying to warm you up enough to wake you up." She dabbed his panicked face again after re-soaking the washcloth with hot water. "How do you feel?"

Danny blinked and slowly sat up, leaning against the pillows that Andy fluffed and adjusted behind him. "Sore," he answered. He looked down at his clothes. "What is this?"

"Yours were soaked. They're hung up in the bathroom." Andy handed him the warm teacup and he took it hesitantly. "If you don't find it too personal of a question, what the hell were you doing in that field?"

Danny sipped the tea carefully, eyeing his hand. "It's kind of a long story."

Andy looked at the clock. It was barely seven. "Do you have somewhere to be? Another field to take a nap in?"

Danny almost laughed, "I don't think you'd believe me."

Andy smirked, eyes flashing a quick yellow before fading back to sapphire, "Try me."

Danny looked at her for a minute, taking in the details of the elusive girl his friends droned on about. He was too worn to be angry at the moment, and she had probably just saved his life. He didn't figure now was the best time to be an asshole.

His eyes stopped on her necklace. It was a crystal that was a clear blue in a glass cylinder with silver caps on a long silver chain. Where had he seen that before? It was important. His eyes caught sight of a bandage on her upper arm.

"What happened to your arm?" he asked, forgetting her previous question.

Andy looked at the bandage for a moment. "Welding incident. What happened to your hand?"

Danny looked at his palm, "Pys. Ed. incident."

Andy raised a brow, challenging his story.

Danny shifted uncomfortably.

"Try again." Her tone was stern.

Danny looked at her, "A Ghost did it. One I've never seen before. I went out looking for it last night. When I found it…uh… I tried to get some information and then it attacked me and I blacked out." His cheeks reddened.

Andy frowned. He was embarrassed. Why was he embarrassed?

"What?" he asked, eyeing her expression.

"You took on a Ghost alone in a field at night? Did you try and play hide-and-seek with it too?" Andy covered flawlessly.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm not an idiot," he defended, heat rising in his cheeks. "I guess I underestimated it."

"It?" Andy was irritated at his lack of description. His actions proved her Ghost self to be _very_ feminine. It made her confident, and he wasn't going to ruin it.

"What did _it_ look like?" she asked, eyes a deep gray.

Danny blushed, remembering. "It was a shadow. Just a shape that was completely blacked out except for its eyes." He squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating. "They changed color. I don't know why, but they did."

Andy raised her brows in response, waiting.

"There were these things behind it. They were like bears or…" he looked through the doorway to Zeus and Hades on the couch. "…dogs…"

"Dogs?" Andy asked. "Ghost dogs? Why?"

"I don't know," he replied. "They didn't look like dogs, really. They were demonic-looking."

"What, like Hellhounds?" Andy laughed.

Danny looked at her, eyes wide, "Do those exist?"

Andy met his eyes, "We live in a city haunted by Ghosts that are hunters, box-obsessed, and speak in third person. Are you seriously doubting that something as aged as a Hellhound exists?"

Danny sighed, "I guess not."

Andy felt his forehead, "You feel almost normal now. I should take you home."

Danny nodded, "Thanks."

…

Most of that day was spent at Danny's house. He was back to hating her, thankfully. His parents were definitely concerned with what Andy told them, but his sister was even more full of questions than usual. Andy was about to pull out her own hair by the time she received a "call" from someone in need of a tow. She quickly departed.

It was Sam sending out a get-away call. She knew Andy didn't want to spend all day with Danny. By the time she had gotten the news, it was already late. Andy drove home just as the sun went down.

As was her nightly routine, she went on patrol, but Zeus and Hades stayed home. The town was almost peaceful at night, and she savored the view, trying not to think about her wretched afterlife.

She flew around in the crisp air as clouds blew in overhead. Tonight was colder than the last, she knew. The sun hadn't been down long, and the ground was already frozen. She landed in the grass below her, hearing the soft crunch of each blade. She looked up as a single flake of white drifted in front of her. She caught it in her hand, watching the crystalline shape grow and change against the darkness of her palm. More flakes fell around her, sticking into her hair and clinging to the frozen grass. A soft flurry covered the town. Flakes glinted under the streetlights, and the distant noises of the city were silenced.

A hiss of cold air fell from her lips and she disappeared. Around her was the park, empty due to the time of night. She remained still, black eyes searching. The Ghost's presence nearby caused her vaporous skin to tingle. Whoever it was had power beyond most that haunted the city, the snow alone was proof enough of that. Although the signature of the specter wasn't unfamiliar, she couldn't place it. She kept her black eyes moving through the dimly lit scenery, holding perfectly still.

"Where are you?" she whispered, more to herself than the visitor. The sound of her voice seemed to stop too soon, muffled by the snowfall.

A tingle fell over her shoulder and a voice whispered to her, "Hello, my dark angel."

Andy stiffened at the voice and she turned around, her feet shuffling the fresh snow.

 _He_ appeared. Although she was still invisible, his crimson eyes met hers directly, a familiarly confident smile on his face. Tingles danced within her vaporous form.

"Show yourself, I've been looking forward to seeing you again," his voice rumbled lowly in her ears and she obeyed.

"Hello, Phantom."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

A mixture of pure excitement and deathly fear danced through Andy's Ghostly form. _He_ had come. Phantom floated before her, no longer a mental image she conjured up to keep herself moving forward. He was really here.

"I told you that I would come back for you once I had completed my task," he crossed his sculpted arms behind his back. "Did you not believe me?"

Andy's eyes flashed a happy gold as she thought of his promise. "I couldn't wait around that tower any longer." It wasn't a lie. Clockwork had shipped her off almost immediately. She wasn't happy about her purpose, but she was content knowing she'd at least see her only friend again.

Phantom gave a crooked smile, reaching toward her through the large snowflakes. He tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear, tracing his finger down her jaw and tilting her chin up to look at her face.

"Wandering through the Ghost Zone this whole time to make my way here undetected was hell. Remembering those ever-changing eyes of yours kept me on course," he smiled as her eyes went from gold to pink, running his thumb over her bottom lip.

He kissed her forehead lightly, sending chills through Andy's unfeeling form. Andy felt his free hand stroking her arm. She closed her eyes happily.

"I'd be lying if I told you that you weren't on my mind since you left," she whispered in return.

Phantom traced his fingers down her neck to her chest where his gift hung hidden in her shadowed form. Upon his touch, the shadow faded. "I see you kept my gift with you."

"Every moment since you gave it to me," she replied, glad she couldn't blush. She opened her rosy pink eyes and raised them to meet his. "The snow was a nice touch," her cheeks pushed up her eyes in a smile.

He smiled and lifted his hand between them. In his palm was a small flurry. "I'm glad you liked it."

Andy cupped her hands around his. An intricate design wove its way out from the center of his hands, "Ice has kind of grown on me. I guess I have you to thank for that."

He chuckled lowly as he cupped her hands in his. Andy raised her eyes to him. He released her hands, regaining his focus.

He lifted his dimly illuminated eyes from their hands to meet her gaze. "I stole a disguise for while I'm here. You'll see me around the humans if you look. I assume you have a place to hide?" He ran his hand softly over her stomach, over her hip, and over to her hand.

"Yes, I do," Andy replied, blinking icy flakes from her lashes.

His eyes tore from hers and he searched the park. "Someone's here," he whispered.

Andy felt nothing out of the ordinary, but due to Phantom's power, he could probably sense more than her.

"I have to go. It will be dawn soon, and I have to visit an old friend," Andy's favorite malicious grin appeared across his perfect features. "I'll find you again soon. I promise."

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and planted a delicate kiss on her nose before he vanished into the quiet night. It always gave Andy remnants of butterflies that he seemed to see through her shadows to the features that lie hidden there.

She wrapped her arms around herself and let out a quiet sigh, disturbing the path of a few snowflakes. She had a feeling of being whole that she hadn't had since early on in her human life; before her mother left.

Her joy was because of Phantom.

 _I'm doomed._

…

True to his word, Phantom dropped in on the Mayor. Vlad Masters was sitting comfortably at his desk talking to a fluffy white cat named Maddie. Phantom appeared before him, scaring the cat and the Mayor.

"Plasmius," Phantom greeted, satisfied with the terror in the human's eyes.

"Pha-Phantom! What are you doing here?" Vlad was well aware of who stood before him. Clockwork had shown him Phantom's creation and capture during one of his visits. It played out as if he was living it, so it was understandable that he feared the Ghost who was the worst half of himself. Vlad had found the memory a cryptic display of Clockwork's nuttiness, but, obviously, the Master of all Time had his reasons for everything.

Phantom laughed wickedly as Vlad shifted to his more confident, Ghostly self. "I've come to call upon a favor."

"A favor?!" he exclaimed. "Why in the name of cheddar jack would I do you a favor?"

Phantom raised a hand out to him, firing a form of ectoplasm that trapped Plasmius where he floated. "I wasn't asking."

The ectoplasm electrocuted Vlad until he was forced to shift back. Phantom approached, hands tucked behind his back, looking down his nose at the Mayor.

He kneeled down, boring his gaze into Vlad's eyes, "I'm a man of virtue, so I'll make you a deal."

Vlad looked up into the fearless gaze of the Ghost.

"What do you want from me?" Vlad managed.

Phantom smiled wickedly, "I'm so glad you asked."

…

Andy went back home. The hounds were fast asleep not long after her return to the dingy apartment. Her mind turned with thoughts of Phantom and how she could possibly manage to sit back knowing what was coming.

Or, rather, _not_ knowing what was coming.

She remained in her Ghost form as she picked up the apartment. She refilled the water bowl for the hounds and paced, turning strands of orange ectobeams in her fingers. She was anxious. Now that Phantom was in Amity Park, her job would get a lot harder.

She had to protect him, and betray him at the same time.

How could she ever expect him to forgive her for this betrayal? She released him only to retrieve him. Surely he would despise her after that. The time they spent together before his release would all be only memories.

She knew she couldn't disobey Clockwork. Anyone else sent in to do the job would surely try to end Phantom. She would rather he hated her than know she could've saved him and didn't.

She decided to enjoy the time she had with him here. She would revel in the joy he brought her, in the smile that pushed up his cheeks, for as long as possible. That was the point of life, wasn't it? To enjoy its moments before they were gone forever. The afterlife would have to do.

Next time she saw him, she wouldn't hesitate. She would take his face in her hands and kiss him with everything she had. He would never doubt how she felt, not even for a second.

A hiss of air fell from her lips and the water bowl for the dogs froze over. Andy smiled.

"I'm surprised you found me again so quickly," she said into the frigid air.

A chuckle sounded from behind her. She turned around to face the sound of his voice, her eyes a deep, velvety crimson.

Phantom stood with his arms behind his back, smirking at her. "It was easier than expected to secure a temporary hideout."

"And you figured you'd drop by to see me? I'm flattered," she quipped.

He stepped closer to her floating form, "We were interrupted in our reunion. It's only polite."

"It seems we are always getting interrupted," she replied, floating closer.

He took another step, "It's unfortunate, I know. But we will be done hiding soon enough."

Andy landed on the floor and stepped nearer to him. "How soon?"

"Impatient?" he smirked.

"Very," she eyed him through her dark lashes.

He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up, "I know how you feel." He moved his hand to her cheek, smiling as she tilted her head into it and cupped her hand around it.

"Do you?" she whispered. _Do you really?_

He leaned down, "You can't imagine how much."

Andy's skin tingled as she looked into his eyes. She would've felt nervous butterflies if she could. It made her braver without them. She could fool herself into believing she wasn't nervous.

She reached up a hand to the back of his neck and pulled his head lower, meeting his lips with her own. Her other hand fell to his chest, and she pushed back.

He didn't look unhappy, but he did appear surprised.

"I wanted to do that before we were interrupted again," she smiled, a little dazed. If she could've blushed, she would've been red from scalp to sole.

His eyes burned for a split second. Andy didn't get a chance to have second thoughts.

In one quick motion, he'd wrapped a hand behind her back and a hand gripped her hip. He pulled her to him roughly, matching his lips to hers once again. Andy was still dazed from her own kiss. Phantom's sent her reeling. She felt his emotions radiating from him fiercely, mixing with the ones she was already feeling.

He held her firmly to him, and she felt as if she could never get close enough. His nose brushed hers, and his hands gripped her hips tighter.

A hiss of air fell from their lips, pulling them apart as a thump sounded downstairs. Andy's velvety eyes burned crimson. She pushed away from Phantom.

"Danny," she growled. "I'm going to kill him."

She floated over to the corner, so she didn't make noise, and grabbed the shotgun that was left leaning against the wall. It was loaded and ready to go. She looked to Phantom.

He wore the same frown she did, though her reaction to the interruption had amused him. Whoever had dared to interrupt him would be shown no mercy. He nodded as Andy put a finger over where her lips lay hidden. She phased through the floor silently.

Danny sifted through the items in Andy's garage, looking for what, he wasn't sure. He kept the flashlight down, trying not to attract attention. He knew she was home, but a human wouldn't hear him simply looking around. The dogs might, but he hadn't heard barking or growling, so he remained focused.

He sifted further through a travel tool bag when the _chhk-chhk_ of a shotgun sounded behind his back. He froze as the cold metal pressed up against his hoodie-covered back.

"Put your hands up, slowly." Andy's voice was low and dangerous. It reminded him through the pit of fear in his gut why he was there in the first place. She pulled a chain, turning on a light. "Make any sudden movements and I won't hesitate to pull this trigger."

Danny managed to get his breathing back under control. "Andy, it's me."

"I know it's you," she growled. "If I didn't, I would've shot you already. Why are you snooping around my garage at three in the morning?"

Danny slowly turned and met her crimson-colored eyes, feeling more and more justified as each moment passed. He looked down at the necklace that hung below her chest. He gently grabbed it and held it up, feeling its unnatural coolness through his mittens.

"We need to talk," he said sternly.

Andy could tell by his tone that she had been discovered. She kept a straight face anyway.

"What about?"

Danny lowered his brows over his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, just get your ass upstairs," Andy snapped, grabbing him by the jacket and shoving him to the back of the garage towards the staircase.

Zeus and Hades were perched lazily on the couch when Danny walked in. Phantom was nowhere in sight, and Andy couldn't sense him anymore.

"It was just him," she said to them irritably, setting the shotgun back in its spot.

Danny eyed her as if she was crazy.

"Hey, it's the popsicle we found yesterday!" Hades barked out a laugh.

"Looking toastier than when we found you," Zeus greeted.

Danny looked dumbfounded at the two hounds on the couch.

"Well?" Andy called grouchily from the kitchen.

Danny walked in, rubbing his arms against the frigid temperature of the apartment. He leaned against the counter as Andy hopped up and leaned against the step up between the kitchen counter and the breakfast bar.

"I know you aren't who you say you are," he began. "No more games, Andy. I want the truth. All of it."

Andy raised her brows, but her lids were low. "What makes you think I'm not who I say I am?"

Danny lowered his brows, "The necklace was my first clue. But you used certain phrases as a Ghost and as a human. I only needed to put the pieces together."

"And you think you've done just that, huh?" she lowered a brow.

"I don't have all the pieces. That's why I'm here," he replied, crossing his arms. "Don't make this more difficult. I really don't have the patience."

Andy rolled her eyes, "Well, since you asked so nicely…"

"Who are you?" he asked, crossing his arms tighter and squinting at her. "Really."

Andy propped her elbows behind her on the raised bar. "My name really was Andy Carter, like Tucker's PDA told you." She glared at him for that part.

"Was?" Danny asked, raising a brow.

"I'm dead, Danny. So, yes. Was."

"What happened?"

Andy frowned at the question, "Why does it matter how it happened?"

"I'm curious."

"Pass. Anything else?" Her eyes faded to charcoal gray.

"What are you doing in Amity Park?" he asked.

"I told you, I was sent by Clockwork to help you. Did you go to see him or not?"

Danny frowned, "I did. He told me that by this morning you would have more answers."

Andy lowered her brows, "Phantom is in Amity Park. He means to put himself back on the Chronological Map. I was sent to make sure he doesn't hurt any humans." She worded it this way because she doubted she could help to end him. She pushed the thought from her mind.

"Phantom? You mean my older evil self?"

Andy nodded, eyes flashing sapphire for a fraction of a second. "Which explains the snow in early October."

"That's impossible! I trapped him in a Thermos and left him in Clockwork's care! How did he get out?" Danny was getting worked up. He was bound to do something stupid if he kept going.

"I let him out," she hissed.

" _You?_ " Danny growled. "You let him out? Are you insane?"

"No, I'm not insane," Andy snarled. "He was supposed to be let out. Obviously, he's still a part of your path to adulthood or some such cryptic bullshit."

"I barely defeated him last time! Now, I bet he's pissed. How do I beat him again?" Danny had turned and gripped the edge of the countertop.

"If Clockwork felt it was too big of a job for you, he would have sent more Ghosts. Obviously, it's supposed to happen this way or he wouldn't have let Phantom even leave the tower in the first place."

"What if he comes for my family again? What if he comes for Sam and Tucker? I can't defeat him by myself!"

"What am I? A cheerleader?" Andy snapped, breaking into his rant.

"Oh great, Clockwork sends me Phantom's biggest fan. He might as well have sent me a condolences card."

Andy's eyes flashed red as she hopped down from the counter, "Hey now wait a minute—"

"Don't tell me to wait. I'm about to take on the most powerful Ghost to ever not exist and all I have for help is a minion shadow Ghost with loyalty issues!"

"Great idea, Fenton. Poke fun at the Ghost who is here wasting her afterlife to help you," Andy snapped.

"What else did you have to do? Freeze the coffee of middle aged men?" he yelled.

"I certainly have other things I would rather do than help an ungrateful teenage boy thaw after falling unconscious in a field!" Andy yelled back.

"You were the reason I was there in the first place," he snapped.

"I could've left you there!" she countered. "I came back and helped you! Just like I am now."

"Don't expect me to believe that you're here for anyone but yourself!" he screamed back.

Andy swung hard. She connected with his jaw with the force of a Mac truck. He took the blow well, using his supernatural abilities to steady himself so he didn't fall. He looked back to her, livid, but surprised, rubbing his bruising jaw.

"Keep talking, Fenton. I don't need to remind you that I've put you on your ass more than once already. If you think even for a second that I'll take your shit, then you're even dumber than I already thought." Her voice was low, one might even call it a growl. She couldn't remember the last time she was this angry. "You need my help for this, that's why I'm here. Don't forget that."

Before Danny could open his mouth to protest, Andy's infuriated gaze stopped his words in their tracks.

"Get out," she hissed. "Before I shoot you again."

Danny squeezed the bandage on his hand and ground his teeth together. Her tone told him she wasn't kidding with her threat, so he showed himself out.

She watched him fly away, still pissed.

"Here for myself?" Andy scoffed. "I wish."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Danny looked for Andy at school the next day. He needed to talk to her. He had been so overcome with anger and fear that he'd pissed her off. The light bruise on his jaw was proof enough of that.

She wasn't in any of her classes. Neither Tucker nor Sam had a clue where she was. By the end of fourth period, he was beginning to worry.

When he walked to the cafeteria for lunch, he spotted the Mayor coming out of the office, making the feeling of anxiety more pronounced. Masters gave him a malicious grin as he passed by.

"Ah, Daniel," Masters cooed in his public-speaking voice. "Enjoying your education, I presume?"

"What are you doing here?" Danny snapped, his eyes flashing a ghostly green.

"Word amongst the townspeople is that your little friend Andrea is quite a skilled mechanic. I had the principal excuse her from school for a few days to help me with the cars for the parade next month. I hope you don't mind." He looked down his nose at Danny.

The teen was speechless with fury. He knew Masters was up to something, but he didn't know what.

In a few hours, he would find out.

…

Andy stood outside of the school with her backpack, waiting for the Mayor. He gave her the creeps, more than just because he was half-Ghost.

He requested her help in maintaining the cars that were going to be in the Halloween parade next month, and insisted on pulling her out of school so she would have time to do it. Being that she was still pissed at Danny from that morning, she didn't really mind not being in class.

She saw the Mayor exit the school, walking toward her.

"Should I follow you, Mr. Mayor?" she asked. "I'm parked around the back."

"That won't be necessary, child. I will ride with you." He smiled politely and dropped a friendly hand on her shoulder.

"You won't be more comfortable in your limo?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter to me," he responded. He leaned in, "Truth be told, I have a guest in the limo whose company I can no longer stand. I was hoping to catch a few moments without them."

Andy nodded, "Who is it?"

Vlad looked around subtly, "My younger brother." _At least that's how the townspeople will know him._

Andy hummed a laugh as she approached the diesel, "I wasn't aware you had any siblings, Mr. Mayor."

"Well, you could say we aren't close. But you know how siblings are," he responded.

"Not really," Andy replied. "I'm an only child." They approached the truck, "Here it is."

She could tell Vlad was disenchanted by the large, old pickup, but he didn't verbally complain as she tugged the passenger door open.

She drove the bumpy old rig up the cobblestone driveway to Vlad's house. It was a big, flashy mansion with a driveway wrapping around a large fountain.

"Pull back down that little road on the right," he instructed.

Andy obeyed, parking beside a garage-like unit the size of a regular person's house. Her mouth fell open at the sight of it.

"This is your garage?"

"Why, yes," Vlad replied, stepping out of the truck. "I do love American classics, but, I'm afraid I don't know much about how they work."

A hiss of air fell from her lips when Vlad was at the steps to the main house.

"I dropped my phone under the seat, I'll be right behind you!" she called up when he looked behind him.

"Danny, so help me…"

He appeared in a crouch behind the tire, out of sight. "What are you doing here? Masters is a bad guy!"

"I'm just here to fix up a few cars, don't get all worked up about it," she grumbled.

"You shouldn't be involved with him. You _know_ who he is! Why are you even considering it?" he hissed.

"Because some of us have bills to pay," she snapped. "And I'll be damned if I skip out on rent because you and Plasmius had a hissy fit."

Danny opened his mouth to speak but Andy cut him off.

"Get out of here before I scream 'Ghost' at the top of my lungs," she hissed.

He lowered his brows and frowned, "You can't avoid me forever. We need to talk."

"Make an appointment like everyone else," she slammed the door and started up the walkway.

Andy followed Vlad up the neatly manicured walkway to the main house, trying to mask her irritation. She took care to wipe her feet on the mat outside before stepping into the exquisitely decorated 'foyer', _whatever the hell that is._ Vlad's butler took her backpack and books with a polite smile. She handed him the hat as well, remembering her mother telling her it was impolite to wear hats indoors.

"Tom?" Vlad called. "I pray he's not here, but it would be rude to not introduce you," he said to her. "Thomas!"

Andy raised a brow.

"What is it, Vlad? I told you not to disturb—" the man Vlad had called stomped heavily down the stairs, grumpily responding to his brother, until he caught sight of a guest.

Andy ran her fingers through her hair nervously, hoping she didn't have hat-hair. She felt so out of place in this mansion already, she didn't need dumb hair on top of it all.

"Forgive me, brother. I didn't realize we had company," Thomas said as he collected himself to finish his descent of the stairs.

"Thomas," Vlad said, hiding his irritation, "this is Andrea Carter. She will be working on the parade cars for the next few days."

Thomas approached, keeping his eyes on her in a familiar way. He had black hair that he kept long, hanging messily in his eyes and a little shaggier than was neat on his neck. He had a patch of scruff on his chin, wide shoulders, sculpted arms, and a mischievous smile. He was fairly casually dressed compared to Vlad, in dark jeans and a black t-shirt. He looked at Andy with emerald eyes.

"It's just Andy," she extended her hand to him, expecting a firm shake from his large hand.

Instead, he gently turned it over and kissed her knuckles. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Andy. I'm Thomas Masters, Vlad's younger brother," he replied huskily.

Andy looked at him, her eyes filling yellow, wondering what was so familiar about him.

"It's nice to meet you, Thomas," Andy nodded.

He reluctantly released her hand as Vlad dropped his onto her shoulder, "I will show you to the garage."

Andy nodded, turning to follow him.

"Thomas," Vlad turned. "Do try not to interrupt Ms. Carter. We are on a timeframe."

Thomas frowned as they turned to go. Vlad tugged Andy out to the garage and opened the side entrance for her. When he flipped on the lights, Andy gawked.

The garage was pristine. Cars ranging from the twenties to the current year were lined up precisely along the perimeter of the garage. One wall had five fully-stocked tool boxes and four different air compressors. There were two lifts, a paint booth, a heavy machinery room, and a break room in a loft above the garage. Andy felt tears welling up in her eyes, thinking of her father and his dreams for a garage like this to work in.

"Is there anything else you require? I tried to acquire the basic necessities in automotive restoration and maintenance equipment." Vlad clasped his hands behind his back, looking proudly around the large shop.

Andy took a moment to gather her thoughts, "I think this should be just fine, Mr. Mayor. Anything I would need, I could probably bring from home. Do you happen to have a speaker somewhere?"

"Ah," Vlad pulled a small remote from a shelf. "There is a stereo in the wall over there above the tool boxes. It will play the radio, CDs, and you can connect your phone to it, if you wish."

Andy took a deep breath, pulling her hair back into a ponytail, "Where and when would you like me to start?"

…

Andy had been working for nearly an hour, listening to the music Tucker had downloaded onto her phone playing through the many speakers in the shop.

She was lying on a creeper underneath a convertible 1955 Chevy Bel Air when an icy breath fell from her lips. She wheeled out and stood, looking toward the back of the shop. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

She turned back to the car, but bumped into a broad chest covered by a soft black t-shirt. A low hum of a laugh sounded from within it at her short, profane exclamation.

"I didn't mean to scare you," the voice said.

Andy stepped back and looked up. "Oh, Thomas. It's just you."

"Where you expecting someone else?" he raised a brow playfully.

Andy had to shake off the sense of familiarity before she could speak, "I didn't know I should be expecting anyone while I was working. I figured Vla—Mr. Masters was keeping everyone out of the shop while I was here."

"It's just because I'm here that he's so skittish," he replied, crossing his hands behind his back. The pose made his shoulders appear wider and his chest more pronounced. Andy caught her eyes wandering and they flushed a rosy pink along with her cheeks.

Thomas smiled crookedly. "What are you doing?"

Andy kept her eyes down, knowing they were changing, "It's a '55 Bel Air. I'm just looking it over at the moment to see if it needs anything."

She turned and popped the hood, careful of the classic candy-red paint. Thomas leaned over her shoulder and the scent of his cologne filled her nostrils. She stiffened, nervous at his closeness.

"Incredible," he hummed.

"It is in pretty good condition. It doesn't need much beyond basic maintenance." Andy tried not to stutter as she felt his smooth-shaven cheek against her ear.

"I wasn't talking about the car," he laughed, standing back to let her turn around.

Andy tried to maintain her composure. She turned and met his eye directly, "I was."

She walked back to the toolboxes, taking off the latex gloves she was wearing. If Phantom saw how this human was behaving, things would go _very_ badly. It was in her best interest to remain detatched. She lowered the volume on the stereo and searched the drawers for the correct wrench. The boxes weren't organized like hers at home, so it took twice as long to find things.

She felt a chin rest on her shoulder and stopped pulling out drawers. "Can I help you, Thomas?"

He laughed, "You could recognize me. That would be helpful."

She turned. He was a head or so taller than her, with tanned skin and a confident smirk. Instead of looking down at her, he tilted his head down to meet her eyes. They flashed red.

She knew.

"Phantom?" it came out as a whisper, but at the sound of his name, he smiled at her.

"In the flesh, as the phrase goes," he gestured to himself.

"Humanity looks good on you," Andy kept her voice low, a smirk on her lips. She rounded him, eyeing every inch without reserve. "But I have to say that your Ghost self is a tough image to beat."

He laughed genuinely, basking in her attention. She had become more and more herself since he had arrived in Amity Park, and he was more taken by her now than ever before. He sighed contently, running the backs of his fingers over her cheekbone, "I could say the same thing to you."

Andy's eyes flashed pink, making him smile. "It's only been hours since I last saw your beautiful eyes, but each time is better than the last."

Andy smiled, blushing. "I missed your sappiness."

He hummed a laugh, lowering his forehead to hers, "I don't have long, but I needed you to know that I was here."

"So Vlad was the 'friend' you were referring to?" Andy clarified.

He nodded, stroking her arm. "I've laid the groundwork for explaining my presence to the public, but there is still a lot to be done. Plasmius has agreed to help me, but he knows nothing of you, I promise."

"Be careful," was all she said. He was too close to her. She couldn't think straight, she was so blissful. "If you plan on something destructive, Clockwork will surely send someone to stop you. I don't think I could stand by and watch that."

He smiled, "I'm aware of Clockwork's intent to stop me. I didn't bet I could sneak around him, but given that he knows everything and he hasn't stopped me yet, I assume things are all going to plan." He leaned back on the railing around the raised area the toolboxes sat on. "I need you to stay here during the day. Some old enemies are planning on paying me a visit, hoping to expose me. I can't have them using you as leverage." His eyes flashed red at the thought.

"I still have your gift with me," she reminded him, touching the necklace. "I'll be fine."

A moment's wave of relief flowed through him. He found it endearing that she valued his gift as much as he had hoped she would. Caring for others was a weakness for an enemy like him, he told himself. He knew someone as strong as Andy could be skilled enough to protect herself. With his gift, she would be more powerful, as well. He hadn't told her what it would allow her to do, she figured that out on her own. So far, it seemed she only knew it gave her the power to manipulate ice as he could. But it was so much more than that. It nearly drained him when he made it. She didn't know that either. He ran his fingers over the bare skin on her neck and part of her chest before touching the crystal. She fought the urge to shiver, trying his control.

He took pleasure in her little reactions. Only he could touch her this way. No one else would dare try, or they would face him for it.

"How did you come up with the name?" she asked. "Thomas."

"Phan _tom_ ," he emphasized. "Tom, Thomas… It was simple. I certainly wasn't going to call myself 'Daniel" now, was I?"

She laughed, earning a smile from him. He loved that he could make her do that.

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear delicately, as if he thought she would crack if he were too rough. It took immense control not to take her into his arms and carry her away to a safe place to hide until he had built their territory for her to roam. But he knew she wouldn't have it. She would fight right along with him if given the choice.

And dammit, he was crazy about her for it.

"Plasmius is planning a party of sorts. A 'welcome party' for his little brother," Phantom smiled comically at his role. "Knowing him, it will be big and expensive. The whole town is invited. I want you there. I won't be able to focus on keeping my image up if I worry about you the whole time."

Andy smiled, "It's not a date, but since you asked so nicely…"

Phantom laughed, flashing his perfect teeth, sans fangs. "Please? For me?"

"Do I have to wear a dress?" she wrinkled her nose.

"You'll look radiant," he replied without hesitation. "If I have to wear a tuxedo, you can manage a dress."

"You're the guest of honor," she quipped. "I'm just the mechanic."

Phantom met her eyes, tilting her chin up, "That can't be further from the truth."

Andy's eyes dimmed to a rosy pink. He ran his hand over her arm, brushing over the bandage there. She winced.

"What's this?" he demanded.

"It's almost healed. It's just a little tender," she defended. "It's nothing, I promise."

"Who gave it to you," his tone was stern. Anyone to leave a mark on her aside from him would meet their end, he would be sure of that.

"I took care of it. His is worse. It just grazed me. I'm fine, really," Andy took his face in her hands and met his crimson eyes with her own cool blue ones. "It's taken care of."

His eyes dimmed back to a humanly green. "If it happens again, I'll kill him."

"That wouldn't be a good idea," Andy replied. "Besides, murder is hard to accomplish while maintaining a low profile in a public position."

"Far worse has been accomplished by less competent in higher positions," he responded, tilting his head into her hand.

Andy laughed. "But you are far smarter than that."

He smiled and opened his mouth to say something before tearing his eyes away and looking to the door. "Plasmius." He met her eyes, "He doesn't know who you are, but I don't want him to get the wrong idea."

Andy was about to respond, but he disappeared. She felt him pull from her grasp and she dropped her hands with a frustrated sigh.

The door opened behind her, "Is all going well, Ms. Carter?"

Andy turned to the door from her position by the open drawer of the tool box, "Swimmingly."

He seemed pleased. "Wonderful. I have another matter of business I would like to discuss with you while you work, if you don't mind."

Andy retrieved the wrench and an oil pan, "Not at all. What's up?"

Vlad followed her down to the floor and stood by the front of the Chevy as she wheeled beneath the car. "I am putting together a bit of a festivity to welcome my brother to the townspeople this Friday."

"Sounds like fun," Andy responded, smashing her finger and cursing. "Sorry."

Vlad continued, "I was wondering if you could lend a hand with the planning. My hope is to appeal to all ages, but today's youth is all but lost on me, I'm afraid."

Andy laughed, "I hate to tell you, Mr. Mayor, but I'm not sure I could really be of much help with that." She slid out from under the car, letting the oil drain. "I could gather a few helpers that might be more suited for the job, if you've got your heart set on teens."

"That would be splendid. Let me know when you've gathered them up and we will begin planning," he nodded a bow and exited the building.

…

Andy had arrived at Nasty Burger and walked back to the booth where Tucker and Sam sat.

"Andy? Where were you today? Danny said Vlad excused your absence. What's up with that?" Sam wrinkled her nose as Andy plopped in the seat.

"I'm helping with the Halloween Parade next month," she answered. "I guess it's good for his image to bring youth into service." She looked around, "Where's Danny?"

Sam and Tucker pointed out the window as the Box Ghost and Danny flew by.

"Ah."

"What are you doing? Building a float?" Tucker managed around a bite of fries, pulling her attention back to the task at hand.

"I'm doing maintenance on the classic cars in the front of the parade," she responded.

"Does he have any plans for the parade yet? All the A-listers are talking about is the Halloween King and Queen contest. I personally hope they're walking," Sam grumbled, stabbing at her salad.

"I don't know about the plans. All I know is that I have until Halloween to get the cars up and running." Andy pulled her hair over her shoulder and began to braid it. "I do need a favor though."

"What's up?" Tucker asked.

"There's going to be a party on Friday night for the whole town. Apparently the Mayor's brother is in town. He asked me to help make the party suitable for 'all ages'. I need some help." Andy finished the braid, then shook it out.

"You want us to help you plan a party for the Mayor's brother?" Sam looked like she was offended Andy even asked. "Masters is a creepy guy. I can't imagine his brother is any better."

"It pays," Andy said.

"We're in," they said in unison.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: I made this chapter longer for you wonderful readers. Hopefully the added content is an improvement. (: Please R &R!**

 **~HopeLiterature**

 **Chapter Seven**

The rest of the week passed as they usually did in Amity Park. Danny was kept busy by an overflow of Ghosts that Andy assumed were after Phantom, but didn't get past the younger Halfa. Andy wasn't all that disappointed that he wasn't around when she met with Sam and Tucker at the Mayor's house after school. Sam would light up when she heard his name, but then deny her feelings or punch Tucker's shoulder.

Andy had gotten to spend an hour or so during the day with "Thomas", to which she credited the custody of her sanity. She expected every time he left that Clockwork would show up to scold her, but when he didn't, she assumed everything was on course. It didn't stop her from feeling a pit of guilt.

Andy and Sam were in the ballroom, setting up the sound system with Tucker. Andy was repairing a busted subwoofer, and Tucker was setting up the sound system. Sam was arranging center pieces for the tables.

Tucker blasted a song Andy didn't know over the speakers, dancing confidently behind the table.

"I'm bringin' sexy back," he chanted. "Them other boys don't know how to act."

"Oh dear god. Sam! I think Tucker's broken!" Andy called over the music.

"It's just a glitch, this model has always had it," she yelled back.

"Getcha sexy on," he continued, oblivious.

Andy watched, concerned, as he swiveled his hips to the rhythm, using a rolled-up instruction booklet as a microphone. A snort escaped her, and she turned back to her work.

She soldered wires together with her fingers expertly, sealing the wires before settling them back into place. Satisfied, she turned to Tucker.

"Hey, Tuck!" she called over the noise.

Tucker stopped singing and paused the music, "You _never_ interrupt an artist at work."

Andy rolled her eyes with a smirk, "Yeah, okay, whatever. You want to run the test or what?"

"Alright, alright, give me a second," he fiddled with the board before him, turning knobs and other nonsense Andy couldn't distinguish.

"Stand clear," he called. When she stood back, he turned on another song.

He spent the next few moments adjusting the bass to a manageable level, and Andy went to go grab the ladder.

Vlad requested string lights to be hung along the lines of the intricate ceiling, and a large disco ball in the center. She began checking the light strands for Tucker as Sam got to work on the disco ball.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to be here?"

Andy turned toward the door, seeing a livid Danny standing there, arms crossed and scowling.

"Danny—"

Andy watched Sam teeter on the tall ladder. It shook, and started to topple.

"Sam!" three of them called at once.

Danny swooped in and caught her just a few feet from disaster, letting the ladder fall to the marble tiles with a loud bang. Andy was further away, and was still rushing in, seeing what they couldn't.

The disco ball snapped off of its fastening, headed right for a flustered Danny and a blushing Sam.

Andy shoved both of them out of the way.

Sam landed face-first into Danny's chest. She met his eyes for a moment, both of them taking a moment to assess the situation. Red creeped into their faces as they scrambled to get up, mumbling apologies awkwardly. Tucker's snort from a few feet away made Sam go from embarrassed to livid.

Sam turned to yell at Andy for the shove when she saw the massive disco ball in her friend's arms.

Andy shifted it carefully to her hip, clipping the forgotten drop line to it with a frown.

"You're welcome, you klutz," she retorted before Sam could speak. "I bet those big ol' boots make it difficult to maneuver on the narrowest part of the ladder, huh?"

Sam frowned, "It wasn't my boots. I was distracted."

"Is that why you forgot the drop line?" Andy shot back.

Tucker looked to Danny, at a loss for words.

"I didn't forget it," Sam snapped. "How do you think I got it up there in the first place?"

"Then you didn't secure it properly," Andy growled. "If it wasn't for me, you two would be mosaic pieces for the coroner to decipher!"

Sam and Danny looked ashamed for a moment, pulling at Andy's conscience.

She let the ball hang from the line and walked over to right the ladder, trying to ignore their looks. She sighed, then turned back to Sam. "I didn't mean to snap, but you two were nearly squished. You gotta be careful, Sammy."

Danny was surprised that Sam didn't fly off the handle at the nickname. Instead, she spun back around to Danny.

"I can explain," she began.

"I can't believe you would be here," he said to her. "Behind my back."

"You didn't tell him, Sam?" Tucker spoke up from the foot of the ladder, holding it steady.

"Why?" Andy asked, looking down from the top of the ladder.

"Because he'd flip out," she answered. "You have enough to worry about with all the Ghosts lately."

"Don't you think that's for me to decide?" he countered.

Andy finished securing the disco ball and checking the spinner. She slid down the frame of the ladder.

"Well, I'll let you two work that out," she mumbled, taking the ladder and hauling it over to the other side of the room for Tucker.

"Where do you think you're going?" Danny snapped.

She shot him a glare, "To do my job, Danny."

…

She spent the rest of the day in the shop. Tucker had texted her an hour or so after she'd left to tell her that they were done and they would see her later that night.

She worked for another few hours, just listening to music. 'Thomas' was with Vlad, 'suit shopping' for the party. Andy cracked a smirk at the thought of him being fitted for one. Especially with Vlad as an onlooker.

The thought occurred to her that she didn't have anything to wear. Everything was already in the apartment when she moved in. She hadn't seen a dress there. If there wasn't one in her closet, she wasn't going to the party. Not that it mattered. She could 'go' as a Ghost. Someone had to be on lookout, she decided. And, if Sam was in a dress, Danny was all but useless in that aspect.

She had just finished up with a 1971 Barracuda when her phone stopped the music to notify her of a call. She wiped her hands on a shop rag and tucked it into her back pocket as she ascended the stairs.

It was Sam.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Andy. Are you going to the party thing tonight? My parents got a formal invite, and I'm being dragged along," Sam paused. "Danny and Tucker's families got invites too."

"The Mayor's brother invited me," Andy replied, leaning on a tool box. "But Masters said it was _really_ formal. All I have to wear is jeans."

"Why don't you get ready over here then?" Sam suggested enthusiastically. "I'm sure we could find you something."

Andy couldn't remember having ever experienced going to a friend's house to get dressed up before. She recalled seeing it in movies, but couldn't remember having any friends or a reason to dress up. "I don't know..."

"Oh, come on," Sam plead. "You're a part of the group. You have to suffer with us, it's a rule."

She sighed in response, "Fine, okay? What time should I be there?"

"Just come straight here after you're done at Vlad's," Sam replied, sounding pleased with herself.

"Alright, I'll be there in about half an hour," Andy promised.

"I'll see you soon!" she chirped.

Andy hung up the phone, starting the music back up. She shook her head with a small laugh. Sam was actually looking forward to tonight, despite talking down about it the whole time they were setting up. Sam was rarely excited about things. Andy assumed it was a Goth thing, because she could always feel the girl's emotions. She just never let them show on the surface.

Andy finished buffing out a few smudges on the car and cleaned the tools as she put them away. She cleaned herself up as best she could before calling goodbye to the butler on the patio.

The snow Phantom had brought had almost completely melted away. Temperatures outside had returned to normal, and Andy no longer had to fuss with the impracticality of extra layers. She no longer had to scrape ice from her windshield, either.

She ran her fingers through her hair and hopped into the old diesel. The drive was a lot smoother without the ice patches that had once crawled along the roadways. They didn't bother her, per se, but driving and icy roads didn't tend to mix well.

She pulled up to the address that Sam gave her, not that she needed it. She remembered where it was by now, having flown over it several times on patrol. But the house looked much more intimidating from the ground. She suddenly felt grimy in her rusty old pickup and grease-stained jeans. It was almost as bad as walking into Vlad's place.

Andy knocked lightly on the heavy wood door. Sam answered almost immediately. She was in a bathrobe with a towel on her head. She grabbed Andy by the wrist and tugged her inside, earning a yelp from Andy.

"Is everything okay?" Andy managed.

"Shh!" Sam bit out. "Don't make any noise until we are in my room."

They had almost made it to the stairs when a voice made Sam stop in her tracks.

"Sammykins!"

Sam turned around, Andy followed suit. A woman standing at the foot of the stairs smiled at them. Her red hair was held neatly in curlers, and she was in a floral robe with kitten heels. Andy assumed she was in the middle of dressing for the party and heard the door. Andy removed her sunglasses out of respect.

"You didn't tell me you were expecting company!" the woman approached them, offering her hand to Andy. "I'm Sam's mother, Pamela Manson. Sam's father, Jeremy, is washing up for the party. You'll meet him soon."

Andy took it lightly, uncomfortable by the way women tended to 'shake hands' by simply touching fingers. "I'm Andy."

"So nice to meet you, Andy!" her demeanor was that of a fifties housewife, and Andy couldn't help but smile. "I was beginning to think you weren't real."

Andy tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

"Sam only ever told me she was staying late at your house to do homework. I never heard anything else about you. I was beginning to worry she was fibbing about where she was going," Pamela chirped, smiling pleasantly.

Andy eyed Sam knowingly, "Sam has been really helpful as a tutor. I was getting a little lost with all of the catch-up work."

Sam's tension relaxed a little.

"Well, it's wonderful to finally meet you. Would you like something to drink or eat?" she offered.

"Andy and I have to get ready for Masters' party, mom," Sam interrupted, pulling Andy up the stairs once more.

"I'm fine, thank you," Andy replied as she ascended the stairs in Sam's grip.

"Have fun, you two!" Pamela called up as they disappeared into the hall.

Andy eyed Sam, waiting.

"Yes, I used you as an excuse when I would come home late after hunting Ghosts," she bit out. "Danny was really obsessed with finding some 'shadow Ghost' a few nights ago. We got back late a few times."

Andy frowned for a split second. "I could've lied better if you would've given me a heads-up."

"I thought it was believable," Sam replied.

They walked down the long hall for a moment in silence. There where large framed pictures hung on the walls. Andy's eyes looked over all of them, taking in faces that shared features of Sam's. She caught herself wishing she could remember if she had pictures like this.

"Who are all these people?" Andy asked before she could stop herself.

Sam turned and looked at a portrait. "These are my grandparents and their kids. My grandma Ida is the one in the back with a smile on her face."

Andy looked up.

"My dad is this one," she pointed to a blond boy in the middle of the picture.

They kept walking a little further, Sam pointing at the different frames.

"That's my parents on Christmas, those ones are from a family vacation when I was little, that one is from a family reunion right after I was born," Sam continued as they made their way down the hall.

A woman in the Family Reunion photograph made Andy stop.

"Hey, I need to use the bathroom really fast. My room is that door there, I'll be right back," Sam disappeared behind a door, and Andy was left to look at the picture.

The woman had long, pin-straight, dark hair that was pulled back into a neat knot at the base of her skull. Her amethyst eyes matched Sam's completely, but she was incredibly tall. She stood stoic amongst the casual cheeriness of the surrounding family members. She looked incredibly sad behind a mask of indifference, making a light go off in the back of Andy's mind. This woman was familiar to her. She couldn't remember how, so she assumed it was someone from her life. A customer at her father's garage perhaps? But why would she remember this woman so vividly if she held so little importance?

Andy recalled flashes of her life that she hadn't since waking up in the Ghost Zone. The woman was talking to her father, wearing an expression that was as sad as the one in the picture. Her father was upset about something, but she couldn't remember what. The woman walked back to her car to leave, and Andy's father walked back to the garage.

"Andy?" Sam's voice tore her from her memories. "You okay?"

"Who's this?" she pointed to the woman in the photograph. She fumbled for an excuse, "She looks a lot like you."

Sam smiled fondly, "That's my Aunt Evelyn Manson. My dad's oldest sister."

Andy didn't take her eyes off of the picture. "Where is she? You… must hear how similar you look if you go out together."

Sam gave her a look, "She passed away when I was little. My grandma told me she had a secret life in another state, which is why she was gone so much. Dad and my grandpa didn't know, but she trusted my grandma. Apparently, she eloped and had a baby in the seventies, but she was really young, so she didn't tell anybody."

Andy felt like she was being suffocated, even though she didn't need air unless she wanted to speak. "I'm sorry, Sammy," she managed through the lump in her throat. "How did she die?"

Sam pinched her brows together, trying to remember.

"A broken heart," a voice came down the hall.

Sam smiled, "Hi, grandma."

"Hi, Oobla," the woman smiled back, her scooter bringing her closer to them. She looked sadly at the picture. "My little Evie was so strong. She always did her own thing, ever since she was old enough to have an opinion. When the accident happened, she was just never the same."

Andy couldn't speak. She had waves of emotions flowing through her. She felt like a little boat out at sea during a storm. Her eyes cast different glows as she looked at the picture.

"That husband of hers was such a good man, and their little girl was so much like him," she continued, looking fondly at the picture. "I only got to hold her once. Right after she was born. They moved east that same month. Evie loved the two of them so much."

"Are you okay, Andy?" Sam was eyeing her worriedly.

Andy's head had dropped, trying to maintain composure. "I'm fine, I think some dust fell in my eye. Where's your bathroom?"

Sam pointed and Andy took off, shutting the door firmly behind her. She whacked at the device on her arm, creating a portal to Clockwork's tower. She dove through the moment it was large enough, and flew as fast as she could.

Her disguise disappeared as she landed behind the Ghost's child form. Her eyes cast a red glow on the back of his cloak, and she didn't bother to announce herself.

"I figured you would drop in soon," he greeted, keeping his eyes on the screen before him.

"Don't try any of your banter," Andy spat. "You know why I'm here. Don't make me humor you."

Clockwork turned, shifting to his adult form. "Yes, I do know why you're here."

Andy's eyes were marbling crimson and black, casting odd shadows on his face in the dim light.

"The woman in the photograph is from your life. But you have to figure out how she was connected to you and your father." He waved his hand over a portal beside her to continue his work.

Andy's burning irises darkened to charcoal gray. "I should've seen that coming."

"Everything is going exactly as it should," he said, turning back around. "Get back to the girl's house before she suspects anything."

Andy grumbled for a few moments before deciding she would only be wasting time here. If Clockwork wasn't going to tell her, she would find out herself.

It was unbearably frustrating to not remember your life. She knew bits and pieces. Mostly of her father. Her limited memory told her that he was the only one that was a constant in her life. That was why she looked for him tirelessly when she died. Clockwork had told her that her time of searching was over, and that her father had crossed over.

That was really the first time she was told that she was dead. It was also the first time she was told her father was dead. On top of it all, Clockwork had given her none of the answers she needed. She spent far too long wondering about what she couldn't remember.

She was still livid about being left in limbo between the two worlds. Aside from the new abilities Clockwork had helped her discover, the afterlife was a continuous purgatory that she endured alone. That's why she meddled so much; she couldn't wonder anymore. She'd blocked it all out, making others miserable instead.

Then she discovered the thermos.

The thing that had drawn her in to the being she discovered was everything they had in common. They were both in some form of post-departure punishment, and had been in it long enough to forget who they once were. Andy had ceased to be the sweet, small-town girl that just wanted to be with her father again. She'd become a Trickster Ghost, known across the Zone as a demon to be avoided at all costs.

Phantom had become so secluded that his initial rage had died down. He'd had far too much time with nothing to do but reflect upon his actions. To keep something so powerful and arrogant confined to the point of not even being able to move was like keeping a grenade on a shelf, and hoping it would eventually exceed its lifespan of explosive capability. He was bitter, and had lacked a new plan. When he heard that broken voice through the walls of his confinement, it was a welcome distraction from the simmering frustration and boredom that had closed in on him. He'd needed someone just as much as she did, whether he would admit it or not.

Andy landed back in the bathroom, flipping a switch on her device to close the portal and turn on her disguise. She took a deep breath, returning her eyes to a calm turquoise, and exited the exquisitely decorated bathroom.

Sam had suspected something was up with Andy. She had looked at the picture with such interest, such struggle, that it couldn't have been simply polite interest in the picture. She was better when she came back out into the hall, so Sam didn't press the issue. It was mostly a gut feeling anyway, and Andy wasn't one for sharing.

Nearly an hour had passed as Sam worked to get precisely the right swish in her eyeliner. Andy was drying her hair from the shower, her face free of grease spots and worry lines. She'd borrowed a black robe and matching slippers instead of putting her greasy clothes back on.

Sam finished her makeup and walked over to her expansive closet. She picked through several dresses, throwing a bunch onto her bed. Andy sat still, waiting for Sam to realize that she was being buried under all the darkly-colored fabric.

Sam turned back around, hands on her hips. She met Andy's amused stare and laughed. "Sorry."

"Where did you get these?" Andy laughed, pulling the dresses off of herself.

"My mother tries to make me wear big fluffy dresses, so she buys them all the time. I can usually color-dye and alter them into something that's wearable," Sam answered, sifting through the ones Andy was crawling out from underneath.

She chose a floor-length purple dress with a scooping neckline, then picked through her drawers.

"Nice choice," Andy approved. "What are you looking for?"

"Ah ha," Sam walked back over, fidgeting with more fabric. A black corset went over the dress and black fishnet sleeves covered the ends of her shoulders to her knuckles. She held her corset on with one hand and a black ribbon up with the other. "A little help?"

Andy had a hell of a time lacing the black ribbon through the back of the corset, but she managed it after a few colorfully decorated phrases of frustration. She tied it neatly, leaving the long remaining bits of ribbon to trail down the back of the skirt to the floor.

"Your turn," Sam pulled Andy to the vanity and plopped her down in the seat.

"For what?" Andy asked, worried.

"Hold still," Sam instructed. "Close your eyes and trust me."

Andy fought the tickle of a pencil and brush against her lids. Sam worked quickly, undeterred by Andy's twitching. In minutes, Andy's turquoise eyes were given a smoky lining that drew more attention to them than she would've liked, but didn't disapprove of.

Sam pulled out a tiny glass jar and a different brush, "Open your mouth a little."

"Lipstick too?" Andy pinched her brows together. "Come on."

"Lip _stain_ , and no, open your mouth," she tapped Andy's bottom lip with the other end of the brush.

It didn't tickle as much as the liner, so Sam got a better outline on Andy's lips. They were a deep, blood red that made Andy's features look more dangerous. Sam fanned the paint-like coloring on Andy's lips until the shine went away.

"What if I smear it?" she asked.

"It's stain, so it won't be as easy to ruin, but you're still going to have to be careful," Sam answered, putting on her own shade of purple stain.

When she was done, she turned back to Andy.

"What now?" she asked.

"Your hair, obviously," Sam replied, pulling a waved strand out and letting in fall.

"Good luck with that," Andy raised a brow at her.

Her hair was a mess of waves, and the more Sam attempted to brush them out, the more they resisted. By the end of Sam's efforts, Andy's hair was in loose curls that had fluffed from the brushing. She maintained an irritated expression at Sam's reflection, hiding beneath the lion's mane.

"I have an idea," Sam muttered to herself. Andy cringed as she pulled out products from a drawer in the vanity.

Sam sprayed different cans into Andy's hair and smoothed the fluffy mess into loose, shining curls. She piled the dark mass at the back of Andy's head with countless bobby pins, leaving pieces framing her face. She went through nearly half a can of hairspray to keep it in place.

Andy hardly recognized her own reflection.

Sam stepped back, pleased with herself. "Now for the dress."

"That's the last step, right?" Andy asked, turning around in the chair.

"Before shoes," Sam replied, holding up a few dresses.

"Too poofy, too revealing, too short…" Andy sifted through the pile.

When the pile disappeared, Sam put her hands on her hips, "You'll have to pick one, Andy."

"Do you have one that's a little more…plain?" Andy asked.

Sam put a finger to her lips, tapping in thought. "Let me check the back of the closet," she turned and disappeared through the tall doorway. Andy heard a series of shifting noises before Sam exclaimed victoriously. She stepped from the closet, holding out a simpler black gown in a bag.

"This one is too long for me, but you're taller, so it might work," she held it up. "Just try it on."

"Fine, as long as there's no surprise fishnet or skulls," Andy made a face, taking the dress and stepping behind a divider.

"It's plain, like you asked," Sam said. "I wasn't done with it yet."

Andy fumbled through the fabric, fitting the parts of the dress to her respective body parts. It was a soft, thin material, hugging her torso and hips. At her mid-thighs, it came loose to flow softly to the floor at her feet. The neckline was a slight curve across her collarbones, exposing the tops of her shoulders. Sleeves ran tight down her arms to end in points on the outside of her hands, and her back was left completely exposed, save a thin piece of fabric across the backs of her shoulders to hold it in place. She laid her necklace over it and walked out from behind the divider, eyeing her reflection in the full-length mirror skeptically.

"It's perfect," Sam smiled. "You don't get a choice."

"It's not too bad. Pretty comfortable, too," Andy agreed.

"Well that's good," Sam rummaged through a jewelry box. "'Cause the shoes are not."

She placed simple crystal earrings in Andy's ears to tie in the necklace and took a step over to see both of them in the mirror.

"You look amazing, Sam," Andy complimented. Her eyes dimmed to purple, "Danny won't be able to keep his eyes off of you."

Sam blushed, elbowing her before heading back into the closet, "Shut up."

"Oh come on. You two are like two little oblivious lovebirds in the springtime," Andy clasped her hands together beside her face for effect.

"He's my best friend!" Sam threw a pair of ridiculously tall, black stilettos at her.

"Only because you're both too chicken to let it be more," Andy said coolly, catching the shoes and bending to put them on. "I bet you he'll get all flustered when he sees you tonight. He'll manage to tell you that you look nice through stuttering and you will blush and tell him he looks dashing."

Sam feigned a frown, looking up from her own shoes, "Dashing?"

"Something to that effect," Andy smiled, standing.

"Sam! The limo is here!" Pamela called from downstairs.

"We're taking a limo?" Andy's eyes were wide.

"My parents like to make a statement," Sam wrinkled her nose.

"I've never been in one before," Andy managed, unsure if it was true.

"Well, let's go cross it off your bucket list then," Sam pulled her down the stairs.

 _Oh, the irony._

She had a hell of a time learning to walk down the stairs in the heels, and ended up floating a little so she didn't trip. Sam tugged her by the hand across the hall, down the stairs and out into the limousine.

Andy tried to maintain her composure as she sat back on the shiny leather seat. It stuck to her bare back, and she fidgeted against it. Inside was fancier than anything Andy ever remembered seeing. The roof had little lights to look like a starry sky and Sam's parents sipped the complimentary Champagne. They chatted politely, making Andy relax a little.

Her brain seemed to remember that she was going to see Phantom tonight. Rather, _Thomas_. Her heart would've fluttered if she still had it. He would be in a tuxedo as ridiculous as the dress she was wearing. At least they were evenly uncomfortable.

Andy could feel Sam's excitement grew when the limo pulled up to a brightly lit mansion. Danny and Tucker waited outside, dressed in suits that fit them fairly well. Danny was watching cars come and go, probably looking for Sam, and maybe Andy's rusty old diesel. A wave of relief hit her then. She hadn't realized how awkward she'd feel driving the shop truck to this fancy event. To be fair, there were normal commuter cars in the lineup. But still.

She turned back to Sam, who was watching her parents exit the limo, heart racing. Andy's eyes glowed purple and her red lips pulled back deviously from her teeth.

"Showtime," Andy whispered, earning an elbow to the ribs.

"Shut up," Sam blushed in response.

Danny turned his head to see the Sam's parents exiting a flashy limousine. His heart raced as he waited for Sam. Tucker twitched his brows teasingly, earning a punch to the shoulder.

"Ow," Tucker whined through a chuckle.

When she stepped out of the sleek, black car, everything stopped. She was beautiful as ever in the deep purple waves of fabric that hugged her. Her hair was in messy curls over her shoulders, and expertly-drawn lines of black drew attention to her deep amethyst eyes. Danny's breath caught.

"Not bad," Tucker observed. "What do you think, heart-eyes?"

"Shut up, Tucker," Danny snapped.

"Look me in the eye when you say that," Tucker smirked.

Danny didn't tear his gaze away from Sam to waste it glaring at his friend. Sam was too stunning to want to miss a second of seeing her. His gaze remained on her until she turned back to the last person to file out of the limousine.

A woman in dangerously-tall black heels stood beside Sam. She looked more like an adult than a teenager, and was tall _without_ the heels. She wore her hair up, revealing soft, suntanned shoulders and a slender neck. Her soft lips were painted a deep red, and her black-shadowed eyes glinted like flames.

"Is that…Andy?" Tucker gaped.

Danny furrowed his brows. "I…I think so."

She looked like a completely different. The only reason Danny determined it was, in fact, Andy was the black dress. She was her ghost self from the neck down.

The two of them walking together turned nearly every head as they passed. Even Tucker had stopped the teasing as the two girls walked past them to the main entrance.

Andy leaned in and whispered to Sam, "He can't keep his eyes off of you."

Sam blushed in response, but was too happy to bother elbowing Andy again.

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Manson," Vlad greeted, taking Mr. Manson's hand in a firm, gentlemanly shake. "Thank you for coming."

The Mansons greeted in return, then moved inside.

"Miss Manson, Miss Carter," he greeted the two girls politely. "You both look lovely."

The line moved on, sweeping the two of them into a hall with two large doors at the end, held open by two well-dressed butlers. Andy greeted them both familiarly as she passed, earning a smile from both of them.

…

Phantom, disguised as Thomas Masters, stood mingling with the townspeople. Some of them were surprisingly deep individuals, making effortless conversation and testing his elaborate backstory. A few women flocked around him, laughing obnoxiously at his quips.

The band Vlad had hired played all different music alongside the DJ, and the dapperly dressed humans had even started dancing on the ballroom floor. Lights were strung up across the crown molding of the ceiling, and a large disco ball spun slowly overhead. The dim ambience was speckled with small orbs of light that danced over the cheerful crowd. It really was a wonderful welcoming party, but he was _bored_.

Only half listening to a man's story and a woman's flirtatious whispers, his eyes searched the room for a few select faces. He'd been watching for them all evening, but, much to his dismay, they arrived late. He heaved an impatient sigh, preparing himself to turn back to the conversations he had long since grown tired of.

As if on cue, his eyes drifted to the doorway at the top of the steps. Had he have been breathing, she would've stolen it right from his open mouth. She was stunning, magnificent, radiant. The dress she chose caressed her feminine form in such a way that made him think of seeing her for the first time as a Ghost. Her dark-lined eyes glowed visibly in the dim light, which his gaze lingered on. His crystal hung from her neck over her exposed shoulders, making him smile that she'd found a way to keep it with her.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. Ladies," he kept his eyes on her as she descended the marble staircase. He disappeared into the crowd, ignoring the pull on his arms of the women that had spent half the night whispering in his ear.

She took deliberate steps, as she was wearing black heels far too tall to be easy to walk tried to keep her head up as she stepped down onto the main floor. Sam had linked their arms and was on a mission to find a certain pair of icy blue eyes. Evidently, she found them, because she took off with Andy in tow.

Tucker and Danny's eyes were wide as they approached. Andy's smirk broke through as her prediction played out before her.

"Sam…you…you look nice," he stuttered, red-faced.

"Thanks," she blushed. "You look dapper."

She must've felt Andy's gaze, because she cleared her throat and turned to Tucker.

"You clean up nice, too, Tuck," she managed.

"I do," he adjusted his jacket confidently. "Nice dress, Sam."

"And Andy," Danny added. "We barely recognized you."

Andy's eyes changed to purple in the dim lighting, "Thanks to Sam."

Danny and Sam were back to looking at each other and blushing deeply. Andy bit her lip to keep from laughing. She met Tucker's eyes, he was trying not to laugh either.

Andy slipped free of Sam's grip, "Tucker, would you like to go get a drink?"

He caught her cue and held his arm out, "It would be my pleasure."

Sam and Danny bore holes in the back of their heads as they walked to the refreshment table. Tucker and Andy snickered to themselves as they walked away. Andy turned back and flashed a devilish smile at them.

They made it to the refreshment table, and Tucker scanned around for the cups. Andy's purple eyes watched the two teens across the room thoughtfully.

"Ten bucks says I can get them to dance before the night's out," Andy bet as Tucker poured a cup of punch. She looked to Tucker confidently.

"You're on," he shook her hand. "I can't even get them to sit next to each other in the Specter Speeder anymore."

Andy laughed. They watched as their two friends blushed and continued chatting, completely obvious about their feelings and simultaneously denying them.

"Twenty says they'll kiss," she added, smirking wildly.

"You're really a 'go-big-or-go-home' kind of girl, huh?"

Andy laughed, "You have no idea."

Tucker shook her hand, "This'll be the easiest cash I've ever made."

Danny was walking over to the table, eyes on Andy. She met his gaze directly, then turned back to Tucker. "I'll be back."

He nodded, "I'll be by the food."

Andy turned and wove herself through the crowd toward Danny. She met him halfway, smirking mischievously. "Nice monkey suit."

Danny laughed, "Do you want to dance? I need to talk to you."

Andy looked back at Sam. She had made her way around to the food table, and was talking to Tucker, still blushing.

"Sure," she let him lead her to the floor.

He looked confused when they were amongst the other people, looking around at the organized dancing with a hopeless expression.

"Do you even know how to waltz?" she asked him, trying not to laugh.

"No, not at all." He met her eyes nervously.

"Let me lead," Andy said. She pulled one hand to her waist and held the other at shoulder-level. They saw eye-to-eye, so it was a little awkward, but Andy coached him through the steps until he was able to repeat them back to her.

"Look, I'm sorry about the other day," he began. "I went to see Clockwork and he told me what happened."

Andy cringed, meeting his gaze with black eyes, "He did?"

"I'm not mad at you for letting him out," he replied, smiling gently. "I know you two kind of got close, and it's hard for you to be here to help me capture him. You didn't deserve for me to fly off the handle like that."

Andy's black eyes lit to a cool blue. "I appreciate it, Danny. Really, I do."

"But I need to know that, when the time comes, you'll have my back," he lowered his voice. "I can't do this alone, Andy."

"I'm here to keep Sam safe," Andy replied, carefully wording her response. "That's what I intend to do."

"So you forgive me for being a jerk?" he asked, smiling.

She looked over her shoulder at Sam and Tucker dancing on the other side of the floor, eyes glowing purple and lips pulled up in a smirk, "I know how you can make up for it."

He eyed her nervously, "How?"

She spun them around so he could see Sam pretend to look away. "What?"

"Go tell her how beautiful you think she is, and ask her to dance," Andy's eyes cooled to sapphire.

"Why?" he met her eyes.

"Because you want to," she replied, smiling kindly. "I can see it. You can deny it to everyone else, even yourself, but I know better, Danny. You're in love with her." Her deep blue eyes looked back and forth between his icy blue ones. "You can't fool me."

"What if she says no?" he asked, eyes still on her.

"She won't," Andy replied immediately. "Danny, one of you is going to have to be brave rather than stubborn. Don't you want to look back at tonight and say that you had the courage to get a beautiful woman to dance with you?"

He paused, a smile settling on his lips, "You think you're pretty clever, don't you?"

"Oh, I know I am," her devil-grin and purple gaze reappeared.

"I'm not falling for that," he laughed.

"I'm not giving you a choice," she looked passed him and nodded to Tucker.

"Evening, comrades," Tucker greeted slyly.

"One," Andy began, earning a questioning gaze from Danny.

"Two," Tucker continued, earning a glare from Sam.

"Three," they said in unison.

Tucker and Andy spun free of their partners' grasps quickly, passing each one off on the other. Sam and Danny blushed and glared at the two of them, tangled limbs limiting their retaliation.

Tucker and Andy spun enthusiastically off of the dancefloor, laughing deviously at the flawless execution of their plan. When they reached the edge of the dancefloor, they bowed deeply to one another. A new song started up.

 _Someday, when I'm awfully low..._

 _And the world is cold..._

 _I will feel a glow just thinking of you..._

 _And the way you look tonight..._

Tucker stuck out a hand, "Well done, partner."

"Thanks, comrade," Andy replied, shaking it. "Shall we make our way to the refreshment table?"

"I thought you'd never ask," he stuck out an arm.

 _You're lovely, with your smile so warm..._

 _And your cheeks so soft..._

 _There is nothing for me, but to love you..._

 _And the way you look tonight..._

They walked arm-in-arm to the edge of the room and Tucker began piling a plate with snack foods. Andy watched Danny and Sam with a satisfied smirk. Danny followed Andy's method perfectly, swirling Sam around the dancefloor. Danny was talking to her as they danced, but Andy couldn't hear over the music. If their faces were any indication, the conversation was going exactly as it should have.

 _With each word, your tenderness grows..._

 _Tearing my fears apart..._

 _And that laugh, that wrinkles your nose..._

 _It touches my foolish heart..._

"What are they talking about?" Tucker stood beside her, munching on a finger sandwich.

"Just watch," Andy replied, smirking proudly, blue eyes glittering in the light of the disco ball.

Over Sam's shoulder, he met Andy's eyes.

 _Thank you_ , he mouthed, pulling Sam to rest her head on his shoulder.

 _Lovely, never ever change..._

 _Keep that breathless charm..._

 _Won't you please arrange it?_

 _'Cause I love you..._

 _And the way you look tonight..._

Andy smiled, satisfied. She looked to Tucker, who pulled a ten from his wallet and handed it over, impressed.

"You're good," he quipped. "You're like cupid, but without the diaper or the bow and arrow."

"And the wings," she answered, watching her two friends from the sidelines with deep sapphire glistening in her eyes. "Besides, they would've ended up there eventually."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Andy took a punch cup that Tucker had poured her.

"To you," he toasted.

"Me?" Andy turned to him, smiling.

"For accomplishing in under a month what I've been trying to accomplish for years," he laughed. With a sarcastic smile, he added, "Fucking overachiever."

Andy tapped her plastic cup to his with a laugh, "I'll toast to that."

"You really are 'go big or go home'," he added, taking a sip of the punch.

"I told you so!" Andy laughed out over the rim of the cup.

"How'd you do it, anyways?" he asked.

"They just needed a kick in the ass," Andy replied after taking a sip.

"I've been kicking!" he laughed back, nearly spilling his punch with his gesture.

Andy laughed genuinely. "Beginner's luck?"

Tucker just laughed, shaking his head and looking out toward the dancefloor. Andy sensed longing in him. It occurred to her that he had been a third wheel this whole time with Sam and Danny. No matter how good-natured he seemed about the situation, he felt a little lonely. Not that Andy blamed him. It was probably difficult no not only put up with it, but to not have someone to turn to about it.

She swept the room and caught sight of a girl in a blue dress, emitting feelings of loneliness, with earphones in. She recognized the girl from school, but had never bothered to learn anything about her. A sudden idea made Andy's purple eyes flash.

"Why aren't you out there?" she turned back to her friend, gesturing to the crowd with the elbow of the arm that held her cup.

"I don't dance," Tucker lied.

Andy raised a brow, dropping her chin, "Somehow I seriously doubt that."

"I don't dance like _that_ ," he amended, nodding his head at the crowd.

Andy studied him. He was lying. The skip in his heart was proof enough of that, but his embarrassment was telling her something else. "Why not?"

Tucker shrugged. "Nobody our age does."

"It's a good skill to have," Andy assured. "It's suave. Sexy."

Tucker turned to her, "Really?"

Andy nodded, surely. "Of course. Think about it: in a generation of ridiculous music and grinding, what would a girl think about a guy who could sweep her off her feet?"

Tucker pondered it for a moment, "Wait, how do _you_ know how to dance?"

"What?"

"You taught Danny. I know for a fact he couldn't waltz before tonight. The guy can barely walk," Tucker snorted.

Andy searched her memories, finding nothing. She scrambled for an excuse, "My mom made me take classes when I was younger."

He seemed satisfied with the answer. "Who would I dance with? You're taller than me in those heels."

Andy pretended to consider it, turning back out into the room to feign searching. Before she could answer, she heard her name.

"Miss Carter," a deep voice called.

Andy turned, seeing 'Thomas' walking to her. His messy hair was swept up from his brow in an attempt to look less casual. He wore black slacks and a matching blazer, with a gray dress shirt underneath. He wore no tie, but the buttons on the collar and top of the shirt were left undone, exposing a muscular neck. His green eyes locked on hers as he approached, and Andy felt her cheeks heat up.

"Mr. Masters," Andy greeted, taking his outstretched hand. "Wonderful party."

"I'm so glad you could make it," he smiled lazily.

"It would be rude to turn down an invite from the guest of honor," Andy smirked back, reveling in their little secret.

"You must be Mr. Foley," he turned and extended a hand to Tucker. "My brother tells me you were the one who set up the lighting and speakers."

"Guilty as charged," Tucker replied, shaking Thomas's hand firmly. "It was Andy who recruited me."

"Well, I'm certainly grateful to her for that. Wonderful job," Thomas retracted his hand and folded both behind his back.

"Thank you, sir," Tucker replied, a polite expression on his face.

"Miss Carter," he turned emerald eyes upon her gold ones, that devil's grin stretching his lips. "Would you like to dance?

"Certainly, Mr. Masters," she quipped, a secretive smirk on her face.

She turned to set her cup onto the table and whispered to Tucker, "Blue dress at nine o'clock. Go ask her to dance."

She gave him a look as she turned to Thomas.

"Shall we?" Thomas held a muscular arm out and she took it, letting him lead her to the dance floor.

A slow jazz song was starting up, and the singer's velvety voice coupled with a grand piano's tune filled the dimly-lit ballroom. The two of them stepped onto the dancefloor confidently, other pairs spreading to make room for them. Andy took his hand in her own, eyes lingering for a moment on them. Thomas wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her in close. Andy slid her hand up to his shoulder slowly, not bothering to pretend she barely knew him.

 _Your eyes may be whole,_

 _But the story I'm told_

 _Is your heart is as black as night._

As they swayed to the music, he brushed his thumb back and forth across the bare skin of her back. He leaned in slightly to rest his cheek on her temple, and she slid her hand to loop around his shoulder, coming closer to him.

 _Your lips may be sweet,_

 _Such that I can't compete,_

 _But your heart is as black as night_

The smell of his cologne and the warmth she felt from his skin made her eyes deepen to a velvety red, and she smiled lightly.

"You look absolutely radiant this evening," he whispered in her ear, sending tingles through her body. "I could barely stand it when I saw you dancing with him."

"The feeling is mutual," Andy retorted lightly, letting out a hum of a laugh.

"You know if I didn't have to preserve an image, I would take no other woman in my arms," he hummed lowly in her ear. "Vlad was so bold as to ask me to dance with as many women as possible _except_ for you."

"Did he really expect you to listen?" Andy asked.

"I doubt it," he answered. "Vlad is many things. Stupid is not one of them."

"That must be where your devilish brilliance stems," Andy noted.

"Danny is quite smart, but he is young," he replied lowly. "Young enough to overstep his boundaries."

"You shouldn't worry," she replied, knowing what he referred to.

"Why is that?" he whispered.

"You're a far better dancer," the teasing smile was evident in her voice.

He laughed lowly in her ear, leaning back to spin her around before pulling her back into his arms. His smooth-shaven cheek rested against her temple, and his thumb brushed her bare skin. He was the only one in the room who was still a considerable amount taller than her in these shoes, she noticed. It only further proved that she should be the only one to dance with him, in her mind.

 _I don't know why you came around_

 _At such a perfect time,_

 _But if I let you hang around,_

 _I'm bound to lose my mind._

She caught sight of the crowd around her. Pulling back, she saw eyes turned toward them with uncomfortable expressions. Thomas eyed her, raising a brow at her sudden tension. A light blush touched Andy's cheeks, "Why are people staring?"

Thomas looked around calmly, "It's a few different reasons. Some of the women are jealous. The rest think you're too young to be dancing with me like this."

"They're staring because they think I'm too young to dance with you?" her voice portrayed disbelief.

"If it bothers you, we can stop," he offered. Though, she could tell that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Her irises were still a velvety red, "I'm dead, what do I care?"

Thomas laughed, twirling her around and pulling her in close, "You are magnificent."

 _'_ _Cause your hands may be strong,_

 _But the feeling's all wrong,_

 _Your heart is as black as night._

Much to both of their dismay, the song ended. Thomas bowed his head politely to Andy, more for the crowd than for her. If it were up to him, he would've pulled her in for a kiss that she would never forget. But he couldn't; not here.

Andy gave a small, sarcastic curtsy and walked off of the dancefloor. Thomas watched her leave, trying to keep his posture rather than running after her and sweeping her away from the crowd. She was so beautiful, so dangerous, he could barely stand it.

Andy approached a table where Sam sat, looking dazedly off into space. She didn't seem to notice when her friend dropped into a seat beside her, and waving in front of her face didn't help.

"Danny's coming," Andy chirped.

Sam snapped up, "Where?"

Andy laughed, "Welcome to Earth, Sam. How was the trip to Cloud Nine?"

"I'm too happy to punch you for that," she sighed, smiling.

Andy leaned her chin onto her hand, "I saw you two dancing. How was it?"

Sam sighed dreamily again, "Amazing. I suppose I have you to thank for that."

"Me?"

"Danny told me you two talked earlier tonight. He said you were the one who told him to ask me to dance," she replied.

Andy laughed, "I knew he wanted to, I just gave him a little nudge."

Sam looked into Andy's gold eyes dreamily, "Well thank you. For nudging."

Andy smiled back, "Anytime, Sammy."

She looked off into the crowd, content. Danny caught her attention subtly, and she excused herself. Squeezing between the people alongside the dancefloor and ignoring the glares of a few women, she met him in a fairly empty corner of the room.

"Everything okay?" Andy eyed him.

Danny pulled her into a tight hug, lifting her off of the ground, "Everything is amazing."

She laughed, wiggling against his grip, "Danny, I can't move."

He released her, "Sorry, I'm just so happy. I don't think I would've had the courage to ask her to dance, let alone kiss her—"

"You kissed her?" Andy asked excitedly.

Danny blushed, "Yeah, I did."

"Danny!" she pulled him into a hug. "I'm so proud of you!" She smirked, "Tucker owes me another ten bucks."

"Andy," he choked out, "…air…"

She released him immediately, "Right, sorry."

The tapping on a microphone caught their attention, and Vlad was on the stage. The two of them worked their way back to the table where Tucker, Sam, and the girl in the blue dress sat, watching Vlad on the stage. He held a glass of whiskey in one hand and the other rested on the microphone stand. He introduced Thomas, who took the stage, also with a glass of whiskey. He charmed the crowd, particularly the women, easily.

His charming smirk remained on his lips as he thanked everyone for coming, and other nonsense that hosts usually talk about. His jokes brought bursts of laughter to the crowd, effortlessly working his way under their skin.

Andy listened to his velvety voice floating through the dimly lit ballroom. Her chin rested dreamily in one hand as she listened to him speaking. Every few words, his shining green eyes would find hers. The polite smirk he wore would widen when he did.

Sam tapped her shoulder, startling Andy out of her trance.

"Well, well, well," she teased. "Look who's on Cloud Nine now."

"Shut up," Andy laughed. "I'm not as bad as you."

"No, you're not," Sam replied. "You're worse."

"What? I am not," Andy lowered her voice and crossed her arms defensively.

"You and Vlad's _brother_? He's a little old for you, don't you think?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

 _Actually, he's a little young for me._ "He's only in his early twenties, which isn't that big of a difference. It's not like he's old enough to have a kid my age," she defended.

"Still. Vlad's _brother_?" Sam countered. "I realize the creepy gene didn't go full circle with this one, but I don't doubt that it's in there somewhere."

"Come on, even you can admit he's easy on the eyes," Andy raised a brow, smirking.

"So's Matthew McConoughey, but he's still too old for me," Sam countered.

"Just go back to daydreaming," Andy lightly pushed Sam's face toward the stage.

Vlad had taken the microphone over again when they turned back to the stage, thanking everyone who helped make the event possible, without saying names. He toasted, brilliantly hiding his obvious distaste for the Ghost masquerading as his brother.

Andy was just about zoned out at Vlad's chatter when a cold breath fell from her lips. She looked to Danny, who had the same expression.

"It's not me this time, I swear," she whispered to him.

"Well there's four Ghosts in this room that we know of, and it's not any of them," he bit out.

She looked to Thomas, who was making his way off of the stage. He said a quick word to Vlad, who had finished his toast, and met her eyes briefly before descending the stairs. He was angry now, and Vlad was blissfully distracting the crowd.

"Son of a bitch," she hissed under her breath. _One night. You couldn't give me one night?_

She and Danny stood. Danny informed Sam and Tucker of the situation, and they stood, too. The four of them found the nearest exit, Sam passing ecto weapons from her purse. The cold night air met them, but not much else.

"Do a perimeter sweep. I'll go this way, you take that way. We'll meet on the other side," Andy instructed, taking a mini-thermos from Sam.

"Be careful," Sam instructed.

"Always am, Sammy," Andy gave a smile.

They split. Andy rounded out toward the back of the courtyard, Sam and Tucker took the patio, and Danny took to the clouding sky.

As soon as he rounded the corner of the hedge, she bumped into Thomas. His eyes glowed a dim red, widened with urgency as if he was looking for her.

"Get back inside," he said sternly. "Whoever is here is after me, and I'm not letting you get caught in the middle of it."

"No way. You have an image to keep up. If Vlad isn't worried, you shouldn't be either. Danny and I have this," she replied, pushing lightly on his chest. "You still have the advantage here. The Ghosts don't know what you look like. Nobody does. It's too early on to risk that."

"I'll risk everything if something happens to you," he put a hand on her face.

"I'll be fine," she reassured, closing her fingers around his hand. "Get back in there, before someone notices that you're gone."

He leaned down to meet her lips. Just before they met, a loud whinny echoed in the night sky, tearing them apart. He growled lowly, eyes burning as if ready to attack.

"Get out of here," she hissed at him.

He eyed her, unsure. The sound of ectobeams firing rang across the dark sky.

"Go!" she shouted.

He reluctantly left her with a firm squeeze on her hand, taking every bit of control he had to walk away. When he was out of sight, Andy removed her shoes and took off through the hedges. There was a clearing up ahead, where the sound was originating. When she made it, she saw burnt rings in the damp grass, but no Ghosts.

Andy looked up as the Fright Knight crashed down before her, dropping Danny in all his Ghostly glory at her feet. Sam rushed out from the hedges with Tucker as screams consumed the inside of the mansion. Vlad and Thomas were yelling to close the doors as skeleton soldiers surrounded the mansion. A Ghost shield lowered over it, isolating them inside. It was relieving and worrying: it would keep Phantom and the other Ghosts separated regardless of will, but Andy was forced to remain in the fight, risking exposure if the trio ran for cover.

Andy turned her attention to Danny, dropping to her knees as she rushed to his aid. He was alright, and just as determined as ever. But so was their enemy.

"Danny!" Sam called, running to him with a small ectogun in hand.

"Andy, run!" she called.

Before she could respond, the Ghost blasted Andy. The beam hit her squarely in the gut, searing the dress and her vaporous skin beneath the disguise. She flew back to hit a tree hard enough to hear it crack upon impact, and landed on her stomach in the grass.

"Andy!" Sam's voice cried out.

When she looked up, the Fright Knight was standing over her, pointing a sword at her throat. She grimaced, eyes burning crimson as she looked at him. She felt the dress soaking through, sticking to her skin coldly.

"Well, well, well," he cackled. "What do we have here?"

"Leave her alone!" Sam called, shooting.

Danny sprung on him, giving Andy enough time to get to her feet before he was fought off. The Fright Knight shot at Andy again, cutting her cheek and knocking her back to the wet grass. Ectoplasm dripped from her cheek, and the disguise patched itself over the wound.

When she looked up, he was closing in on Danny. His soldiers were overwhelming Sam and Tucker, and gaining on her.

Her options were narrowing rapidly, and she didn't have the luxury of time to think things through. It was over.

"I guess time's up," she muttered to herself. She looked up into the clouds, "Clockwork, forgive me."

The device on her wrist fizzed, shutting down. Her once-olive-complexion faded to a featureless black, her hair fell loose from the pins, and the dress disappeared. Her red lips and dark-lined eyes faded to shadows. She dropped the shoes to the grass and wiped ectoplasm from her face.

Sam saw it all.

Andy shot forward and blasted the sword out of the Ghost's hand before it came down on Danny. She stood beside him, pulling him to his feet.

The Ghost turned its blazing eyes on her. With a wave of his hand, skeleton soldiers began to charge her. She drew in a breath and blew out a gale-force wind that froze the first row, then swung a disc of orange energy, destroying them. But they kept coming. Andy was blasting here and there, trying to keep them at a distance, but they kept gaining on her. One jumped her from above, and more piled on top, crushing her beneath them.

Danny was overwhelmed by soldiers in his injured state, barely hearing Tucker and Sam's calls. He looked over to a pile of soldiers where Andy used to stand, panicking.

An orange blast exploded from the pile like a nuclear bomb, clearing the pile and leaving Andy floating above a charred ring in the grass, eyes a blazing red.

She shot directly at the Fright Knight, angering him. While he was distracted with her, Danny stood and began shooting his own beams at the Ghost. Andy fired precisely, freeing Sam and Tucker. She used a ball of ice to encompass them and roll them back to stop under the Ghost shield. She ignored Sam's protests, hoping the orb rolled safely and held them long enough to finish off the army. Danny busied himself with occupying the enemy, not noticing the separation of his friends.

The Fright Knight looked livid, but he was too overwhelmed to give orders to the skeleton soldiers. Andy rushed to Danny.

"Together!" She aimed.

They fired in unison, fusing their energies together brightly. The shot fizzed as it whirled through the air, exploding upon impact with the Ghost. The energy packed a bigger punch than either of them alone.

He flew back into the night sky quite a way, smoking and weakened. Andy and Danny weren't far behind. The Fright Knight's horse found him and he reared up. Andy and Danny's hands glowed, ready to attack.

"I'll be back!" he shouted into the sky. "We will draw you out, Phantom! Even if we have to take what you hold dear!"

Before either of the Ghost's enemies could reply, the Fright Knight disappeared, taking his army with him.

Danny and Andy landed behind a cover of hedges, Danny shifting and Andy reactivating Clockwork's disguise. Singed/ soaked dress, loose hair, and all.

They walked back to the main house where Tucker and Sam were waiting, Andy picking up the discarded shoes on their way. She hung back, wiping at the last of the ectoplasm on her almost-healed face and pulling the stomach of the dress together as much as she could.

"Danny!" Sam ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Are you hurt? What _was_ that?"

"I'm fine," Danny replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Just a little sore."

"You were unconscious, dude," Tucker countered. "That's usually an indicator that you're _not_ fine."

"What about you two?" Danny asked. "What happened to you?"

"Andy trapped us in a big ball of ice and sent us back under the shield," Tucker answered, still processing it. "We're just glad you're okay."

Andy reached the patio, heels in hand and winded, "I'm fine, too. In case anyone was wondering."

Sam turned livid eyes to her, " _You."_

She rushed to Andy, "You're a _ghost_?! You trapped us in ice! You _lied_ to me!"

"You lied to all of us," Tucker accused. "Saved or not, Andy. We trusted you."

"It's not her fault, guys," Danny defended. "She didn't have a choice."

"You knew about this, Danny?" she turned to him, pointing an accusing glare.

Danny nodded, slightly ashamed. "I figured it out a few days ago."

"A few days ago?" Tucker repeated. He turned back to Andy, "You didn't tell him when you got here?"

"Is that why there have been so many ghosts lately?" Sam yelled.

"Lower your voice, for god's sake," Andy hissed. "Everyone inside will hear you."

"What if they do?" Sam hissed. "What does it matter if they know some random ghost is living among them?"

"Sam, calm down," Danny tried to pacify pushing back on her shoulder.

"Do you even realize what it costs me to be _here_?" Andy growled back. "Do you think I came to Amity Park for _fun_?"

"Guys, seriously," Tucker tried to pull back on Andy, but to no avail.

"I wouldn't know!" Sam yelled back, throwing her arms in the air. "You've lied to me from the beginning, Andy! If that's even your name!"

"You want to know why I'm here?" Andy seethed. "Because Phantom is here. Do you remember what happened last time he visited Amity Park?"

Sam wasn't backing down, "What are you going to do? Save me?" Her tone was mocking. "Phantom is locked in a thermos in Clockwork's tower. Even if he did escape, how would _you_ know about it?"

"Because I was the one who let him out!" she shouted back, eyes burning red.

Tucker let go of Andy's arms, looking at her as if she'd sprouted a second head.

"Are you crazy?!" Sam got in Andy's face. "He's a maniac! How could you be so stupid? What, did you want to play the hero?"

Andy grit her teeth together, jaw muscles working on her face. "Clockwork sent me to play the sidekick, actually. He didn't think your punk-ass attitude would protect you this time, Miss Combat Boots."

"I don't need a babysitter!" Sam roared. "Were you that _bored_?"

Andy frowned.

"Did you set him free so you could catch him again?" Sam gestured out with both hands.

Andy looked away, eyes flashing sapphire for a fraction of a second before returning to their simmering red.

Sam was putting pieces together, "No." She looked almost amused. "You fell for him."

Andy didn't look up, but her jaw muscles twitched, grinding her teeth.

"You actually care about that monster," Sam's rage was growing.

"Shut up," Andy snapped, her glare returning to meet Sam's full-force.

"You do, don't you," Sam accused. "You let him out because you love him."

"Sam—" Danny interjected. Tucker pulled him back.

"What, no other dead guys good enough for you?" Sam snapped, eyes locked on Andy. "You had to let out the worst one and undermine the resistance before he took over the city?"

"Sam!" Danny scolded.

"Is that what you are? His little _soldier_?!" Sam screamed. "His little _slave_?!"

Andy shoved Sam back hard. She collided with Danny solidly, eyes wide in shock. Andy's eyes burned, and she was shaking with rage, but she was rooted in place. "Screw you, Sam."

She removed the earrings and dropped them alongside the shoes, frost covering them. "I'm nobody's slave. Not even Clockwork's."

Andy turned and walked back down the path, holding the long dress away from her feet in her fist with one hand and closing the gash in the front together with the other. Ice trailed the ground as she walked, tracing jagged patterns up the dress and sprouting icicles outward from her path.

"Andy!" Danny called. "Andy, where are you going?"

Sam was calling obscenities after her as Tucker was trying to get her to calm down.

Andy didn't turn around.

She dropped the disguise and took off into the cloudy night sky, leaving a wake of ice in the grass. The water and static clung to her as she surfaced atop the clouds, and she didn't bother to phase out of it. Thunder rumbled below her as she sped through the air. Flashes lit up the cloud cover she soared over, and Andy flew faster, dipping below the layer every few moments to see where she was going.

Rain pelted her ghostly skin as she flew, clouding her vision. Anger still boiled within her at Sam. After everything Andy had done for her: the patrols, the endless minutes of animal rights rants, the unbearable amount of Danny-talk. Not to mention the fact that Andy had literally been put in Amity Park to save Sam's _life_. The life she resented, the family she couldn't stand, and the guy she'd never admit she loved. How she could take that for granted when all Andy ever wanted was to be alive with her family? Andy _hated_ her for that.

She was angry at herself as well, whether she could presently admit it or not. How stupid could she have been to think she could be accepted by a bunch of living _humans_? How could she expect to befriend them; to hang out and laugh and do homework together? How could she have thought that any of this would work? She should've just done her job. Playing the meddling matchmaker was a horrible idea. She should've just left that to the Master of Time, himself. He said they would be together eventually. Why did she have to be so impatient? Clockwork had to know this would happen. After all he knew she'd been through, how could _he_ put her through this? She was no closer to remembering who she was, and she'd blown everything in her efforts.

She landed down hard in front of Sam's house, phasing into the diesel and starting the engine. Frost gathered on the steering wheel and the seat beneath her as she drove. Her breath was fogging in the frigid air. The rain had frozen into a layer of ice around her vaporous skin, crackling as she moved, but her eyes cast a warm red glow into the iced cab of the old pickup. It sputtered in the cold, but she was too angry to care about the hunk of rust on four wheels.

She took corners too fast, rattling the old pickup more than usual. It slid in the watery streets and flung mud on the backroads of the city. Thunder boomed overhead, sounding a warning of a hellish storm on its way. Andy kept driving, skidding into her driveway haphazardly.

When she stepped out of the truck, she was coated in ice. She slammed the door and walked toward the garage, leaving a trail of frozen rain in her wake. Hail pelted the air of her immediate surroundings. An aura of deathly cold was radiating from her, turning the large, bullet-like drops into painful pellets of hard ice.

"Andy," a voice came above the pelting rain and thunder. She turned, pieces of her icy covering breaking off and falling to the gravel.

Danny was in his ghost form, soaked as she would've been without the ice. His shimmering hair stuck to his face, draining into his eyes that burned a fiery green. He looked worried, squinting through the falling bullets of water to see her.

"What do you want?" she yelled over the noise.

"We need to regroup. Now more than ever," he reasoned. "This is the worst possible time to get separated."

"Actually, I think it's overdue," she yelled back over a clap of thunder. "I should've kept my distance, Danny. I can't do this. I was stupid to think I could handle it."

"What are you talking about?" he neared her, just outside the ring of ice that encompassed her.

"Sam's right. I don't even know who I am. I've been lying this whole time! I was sent to help you defeat Phantom, but I can't do it, Danny. When the time comes that you fight him, I can't take sides. I just can't _do_ it."

"I'm not asking you to take sides!" he yelled. "I never have!"

"Then what could you possibly want from me?" Thunder boomed overhead. "I can't stand back and watch you destroy him, either. No more than you could watch a Ghost hurt Sam."

"The Fright Knight said he would take what's precious to Phantom to draw him out," Danny reminded her. "He didn't specify what that was."

"So?" she squinted through the slush.

"I need Sam out of here by the time he comes back," Danny called over the rain.

"Are you kidding me?" Andy asked, exasperated. "Phantom doesn't feel any connections to Sam. Hell, he doesn't even feel connected to _you_ beyond the fact that you're his gateway to existence! If anything, they'll come after me!"

"Worst case scenario, I'm wrong and he means you. But if both of you are gone, he has nothing to hold over me," Danny shouted over the storm. "I can easily send my family away for a while, but Sam's not going to go willingly."

"Tell me something I don't know," Andy snapped.

"Please, Andy," Danny begged.

"May I remind you that if I leave, you lose a Ghost?" Andy countered. "Besides, Sam doesn't trust me. She's not going to just hop in a car with a Ghost who's lied to her from the beginning!"

"Let me take care of getting her here," Danny said, his eyes pleading. "Please, Andy. I can't lose Sam." He lowered his voice, "I _can't_."

Andy laughed humorlessly, looking up at the storming sky. "I don't fucking believe this."

Danny's voice was barely audible, "Please, Andy. For me."

Andy looked at Danny's begging face, feeling her composure breaking down. His wide green eyes were deep, wearing on her resolve. She found it hard to deny him. No matter what her own strife was, she had made a promise.

"Have her packed and here in twenty minutes."

Danny slumped with relief. He kissed her cheek and took to the sky, only visible when lightening flashed.

"Damn you, Danny Phantom."

…

True to his word, Danny had Sam in Andy's driveway twenty minutes later, duffle bag packed and pissed off.

Andy threw her bag in the trunk of the Chevelle and slammed it closed. She walked around to a very angry Sam and a worried Danny. They crammed in the garage, out of the pouring rain. Thunder rolled overhead, rattling the windows on the apartment.

"You're sending me away? With _her_?" Sam was enraged. This was the last place she wanted to be right now.

"Trust me, sunshine, I'm not thrilled either," Andy grumbled. "Your boyfriend has had better ideas."

"Just for a few days until we deal with the Fright Knight," he pacified. "If you're not here, he can't hurt you."

"I can take care of myself," Sam snapped.

"The way you handled those skele-ghosts says otherwise, Sammy," Andy quipped irritably.

Sam turned to Andy, "I don't trust you! Why would I get into a car and drive away with—"

Andy touched her temple and she collapsed, caught by Danny just before hitting the garage floor.

"What did you do?" Danny panicked.

"Relax. I just put her to sleep," Andy opened the passenger side door, putting the seat back after Zeus and Hades hopped in. "Put her in the car."

Danny carefully laid Sam on the seat and buckled her in. He kissed her forehead gently and closed the door.

"Where will you go?" he asked Andy as she stood by the open driver's door.

"I don't know yet. I'll notify you when we are safe." She leaned on the door, pushing the seal back into place distractedly.

"How?" he asked.

"I'll find a way," was all she said.

"Andy?"

She looked up, eyes a soft, cloudlike gray.

Danny pulled her into his arms tightly, "Please be careful."

"Always am," she responded, putting her chin on his shoulder.

He didn't let go, "I mean it. Sam isn't the only one I can't lose."

Andy squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in his shoulder, gripping the backs of his shoulders. "I'll bring her back safely, Danny. I swear on my afterlife."

He kissed her hair and released her, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "Go."

Andy got into the car and turned the key. The ancient car roared to life, filling the garage with the smell of exhaust. The headlights dimly lit the gravel road as she drove out into the rain, wiper blades swishing against the windshield at high speed. Tears welled up in her eyes as Danny's silhouette grew smaller in the mirror, red with the taillights. But she didn't let them fall. Not now.

Phantom watched from the cloud cover as the old car took off down the dirt road, his whole world going with it. He could only assume his younger self had sent her and the goth girl away. Andy would never willingly run. He didn't have to know her for long to figure that out about her.

He was baffled. Andy had to know how stupid of a plan this was. It was obvious that she disagreed with Danny about it. He could feel her irritation, her defeat. But that meant she had his gift, and, it seemed, the company of two hellhounds. She might actually have a chance. He hoped so. If anyone dared to harm her, he would rain hell upon them until nothing was left to beg him for mercy.

Andy held the cool crystal in her fingers absentmindedly. She wanted nothing more than to be in the solid embrace of her Phantom. His image in her mind dulled the ache. She wanted to tell him what she was doing. She wanted to fly to him and be held safe from this nightmare, just for a while. Then they could defeat anyone who dared call themselves an enemy. But she knew she couldn't. She was keeping her promise. That much had never changed, not even in death.

"You're going on a long drive, so get comfortable," Clockwork appeared in the back seat, visible in her rear view mirror a few minutes after she drove over the city limit line. His red eyes cast a glow in the dark cab of the car.

"Am I?" Andy responded tiredly.

Clockwork waved his staff and a map appeared on the dash, folded. Andy could see a red route marked on the parchment. When she looked back to the mirror, he was gone. The black eyes of the hounds met her stare sleepily, ears twitching with the roll of thunder. She sighed and looked back to the opaque windshield.

The headlights made the heavy raindrops sparkle, and the wipers were doing their best. Lightning illuminated the road every minute or so, doing a better job than the ancient headlights. She listened to the sound of the engine and water hitting the car, not bothering with the radio.

"This will never work."


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

It had been two days since Andy and Sam left Amity Park. Ghosts had flooded the city since then, keeping Danny and Tucker busy. School was cancelled due to all the paranormal activity, and even Danny's parents were occupying themselves with capturing  
/the Ghosts. Despite being a level of tired that was close to death, Danny could barely sleep at night. He worried constantly about Andy and Sam. He'd had no contact with them at all.

Until he received a vision.

It appeared in a dream, when he finally passed out of exhaustion. He wasn't fully asleep, he knew, but he didn't dare stir when he saw her. Andy stood before him in her ghost form, little expression in her unlit eyes. Even her voice lacked its usual bite  
/of sarcasm or hiccup of laughter. It was almost haunting how still she was in his mind after seeing her last so angry that she shook.

"Sam and I are farther from Amity Park than the Fright Knight will dare to go without a portal," she said monotonously. "This is the only way I could reach you without triggering unwanted attention."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Clockwork gave me a destination," she answered. "Have the Ghosts found Phantom?"

"No," he answered. "Where is he?"

"Hidden," she replied sharply, as if hinting that she would say no more on the subject.

"How is Sam?" he asked after a short pause. "Is she still angry at you?"

"She's still mad," Andy answered. "She's been asleep most of the time because I can't take her yelling anymore."

Andy sounded drained. She lacked even the energy to add profanity to her sentences. She didn't appear injured in any way, but she was definitely broken.

"You have to know how grateful I am to you," Danny whispered.

"I'm not doing this for you," she snapped back dully.

He could tell she was lying. If she really wasn't doing it because he asked, she wouldn't have left Amity Park. She would've come up with her own idea to protect Sam. Danny looked into her tired eyes, seeing through her calm façade but refraining from  
/arguing.

"Are you alright?" his voice was low.

Andy met his eyes, hers were a dull gray. "It doesn't matter."

Danny opened his mouth to protest, but Andy disappeared. He flinched awake in his chair, earning a look from Tucker.

"They're okay," he said. "For now."

…

Andy pulled the Chevelle into a gas station to top off. She frowned at the price on the sign, mumbling profanities about capitalist greed before pulling cash from a secret panel in the car.

"Stay here with Sam," Andy told Zeus and Hades.

"As long as she stays out cold, we should be fine," Zeus replied.

"If she wakes up, I'm bailing out," Hades barked.

"May I remind you that you're under servitude?" Andy snapped.

"May _I_ remind _you_ that she nearly stabbed you with a syringe of Ecto-dejecto last time she woke up?" Hades gestured smugly with an oversized paw.

"She harbors a lot of anger for someone so small," Zeus quipped.

"You two are pathetic," Andy grumbled, shutting the car door.

She pushed open the door to the mini mart and ignored the blatant stare of the clerk. A quick sweep of the store produced food for Sam and the Hellhounds, and she paid for them, instructing the cashier to put money on the correct pump.

As the fuel nozzle clicked, a hiss of cold air fell from her lips, and her black eyes darted around in the rainy darkness. She followed a tingly sensation that lead her around the building. Clockwork appeared behind the mini mart, expectant.

"If you're here for anything but words of encouragement, I may shoot you," Andy snapped, crossing her arms.

Clockwork held little expression on his aged face, "If I would've warned you, the course would've been different."

"Would that really have been such a bad thing?" Andy sighed the question, worn. "Maybe Sam would trust me. I could've told her the truth from the beginning. Maybe then she wouldn't hate me, and I wouldn't be on this shitty road trip that is really the  
/dumbest fucking idea ever. We're sitting ducks out here, and I'm honestly not entirely confident Sam is actually the target."

She took a shaky breath, "I could be spending time with Phantom before his time in Amity Park is over and I lose him forever. Sam and Danny could be happily blushing together, now that they are done denying their obvious feelings for each other. I could  
/be anywhere but a goddamn overpriced Chevron in the middle of the woods with two slobbering dogs and a hostile pile of rage in a mini skirt!"

Clockwork smiled softly, understanding. "You are exactly where you are supposed to be, as difficult as it is to tolerate. However, you will run off course if you keep the girl unconscious the whole ride. She is a part of this too."

"She's safe. I'm doing my job," Andy snapped.

Clockwork tilted his head, "But you aren't running your course. She must be awake. The longer you avoid the problem, the worse it will be."

"If she's awake, she goes for the throat. At least in her sleep, the worst I get is the silent treatment," Andy responded, shoulders sagging. "She's like a bag of rage in combat boots."

"She will calm down," Clockwork assured. "You have to talk to her."

Andy let out a puff of air through her lips. Clockwork seemed satisfied as she gave a small, defeated nod before turning back to the car.

She closed the door after her and sat in the quiet for a moment longer. She pulled the jerky from the bags and tossed them back to the hounds.

"Time to wake her up, huh?" Zeus remarked.

"Hope you got enough sleep so far," Hades responded.

Andy sighed heavily, "You could still jump ship and just follow behind."

"I'll take warm and noisy over the rain," Hades barked a laugh. "Besides, it's _you_ she's pissed at."

"Just keep the shotgun out of her reach," Zeus quipped, a snarky smile stretching his jowls. "Not that it could kill you, but still."

Andy sighed, readjusting the shotgun to push it further under the backseat. Reluctantly, she woke the goth with a quickly-retracted tap on the head.

She didn't come to consciousness gently, either. A sharp intake of air preceded a jolt that the lap belt did little to restrain. The jacket Andy had draped over her landed on the dash, and her heavy boots kicked the underside of the glove compartment.

"Stop doing that!" she screamed.

Andy dropped the bag in her lap, starting the car.

"What's this," Sam asked irritably.

"Some carrot sticks and hummus," Andy muttered. "It's all they had that I knew you'd eat."

Sam pulled out the bag of baby carrots and tub of hummus, eyeing them as she watched the two empty bags of jerky sink back down.

"Why would I take food from you?" she snapped, returning her glare to Andy.

"If you don't want it, give it to the dogs. They aren't as snippy about food as a recycling vegan or whatever the hell you said you were," Andy grumbled.

"Ultra-Recyclo-Vegetarian," Sam corrected, irritated.

"Whatever, look, if you aren't going to eat, can you please just starve in silence?" Andy hissed.

Sam was about to snap back, but she looked at Andy as the light of a streetlamp passed over her. She looked like hell. Not in the human way; there weren't bags under her eyes or worry lines on her face; she didn't have any spark in her eyes. She didn't  
/make faces at Sam, and she wasn't even moving her eyes when she shifted the car into drive.

She looked about ready to break in half.

Sam sat back in her seat. She opened the bag and bit into a carrot. "Thanks."

Andy looked at her briefly.

"For the food," Sam held up the carrot stick.

Andy turned back to the road, expressionless, "Don't mention it."

They sat in silence as Sam munched. Zeus and Hades snored lightly in the backseat.

"Where are we going?" Sam asked, her voice quiet, barely controlled.

Andy pulled the map from in between her seat and the console and held it out to Sam.

Sam took it, confused. It was a paper roadmap, with all the major freeways and roads on it, but there was no line indicating where Andy was driving. The edges were worn, and holes were beginning to appear on the intersections of creases.

"What, are you seventy years old?" Sam snapped.

"What?" Andy looked at her tiredly.

"Why didn't you just use your phone?" Sam asked. "I know you're not tech-savvy, but still."

"The map isn't mine. The route was given to me by Clockwork," Andy answered.

"What route?" Sam held up the map, looking.

"The red line with one end on Amity Park," Andy answered, as if Sam was oblivious to not see it.

"What red line?" Sam was looking all over it. There was no marked route.

Andy pointed, "Right there." It was running up to a spot in Maine, for some reason.

"There's nothing there, Andy," Sam repeated, eyeing her skeptically.

Andy sighed, "Maybe he didn't want you to know where we were going."

Sam sighed, "What else am I not supposed to know?"

"Nothing that I know of," Andy answered.

"Then answer me a few questions," Sam ordered.

"I don't have a choice in this, do I?" Andy sighed.

"Who are you?" Sam cut to the chase.

 _That's a no._

"Everything I told you about myself is true. My name was Andy Carter when I was alive. My dad really was a mechanic. He really did teach me to shoot," she answered, defeated.

"What about your mom?"

Andy's brows pinched together, "I don't remember her. I just know that she was never around."

"Why don't you remember her?" Sam asked, folding the map back up as best she could.

"I forgot most of my life when I…woke up as a ghost," Andy replied. "All I knew was that I needed to find my dad."

"Your dad's…"

"We died at the same time," Andy finished. "I don't remember how, and Clockwork said that I would have to remember on my own."

Sam leaned back in her seat, staring out the windshield. "Did you ever find him?"

Andy shook her head. "I searched for a long time, but Clockwork found me. He told me that my dad had crossed over."

"What does that mean?"

"When a person dies, they either become a ghost, or they cross over. Crossing over is making the full loop, I guess. If there's a heaven or a hell or reincarnation, it's over there." Andy propped her elbow up on the door and rested her head against it.  
/"That's where he went when he left."

Sam turned her head against the headrest, giving Andy's story some thought. After a brief moment of silence, she whispered, "Why didn't you?"

Andy shrugged, keeping her eyes on the road. "I wish I knew. Maybe then I wouldn't have felt so lost when it happened." She paused for a moment, a thought surfacing in her mind. "We wouldn't be here if I had."

Sam almost didn't catch what she said. She decided to keep talking.

"What about Phantom?"

Andy's eyes cast a glow onto the steering wheel that disappeared too quickly for Sam to determine. "What about him?"

"You love him," she stated softly.

Andy didn't say anything.

"Why?" she asked.

Andy pondered that for a moment, a smile touching her lips. "Why do you love Danny?"

Sam frowned, "Danny and Phantom are _not_ the same."

"Not on the surface," Andy replied. "Mainly because Danny fears him."

"Just answer the question," Sam snapped.

"Because I let myself," Andy replied, finally. "Whether he does or not."

Sam furrowed her brows turned back to the road, finding nothing to say.

…

Thomas paced in his room. Andy had disappeared after the Fright Knight's attack, driving away with the goth girl and two Hellhounds. It had been a few days and he hadn't heard from her.

It was all that moron's fault. Sure, his younger self had heart, but he was so _stupid_. Only a complete _idiot_ would send their most important liabilities away, and a valuable Ghost. Now they were sure to get dragged into this by terms they  
/didn't agree to. Andy had to know that.

Luckily the crystal he gave her had special properties. The way he made it was unique. He had taken a piece of his being in the form of ice. It allowed them to be connected, and he felt her more extreme emotions when she wore it. He could even look through  
/it briefly to see where she was. As for her, it possessed the power to use his energy, hence the ice. Andy didn't know why it let her freeze things, and, as far as Phantom knew, all she was sure of was the ice.

He'd been checking in periodically, seeing a steering wheel and a wet road before the hood of a car. Every now and again he would see her hand reach up to touch the crystal, as if it gave her comfort. It was this knowledge that prevented him from taking  
/to the sky to find her.

He needed to keep up an image in Amity Park. As much as he hated not being in contact with her, he had to remember how important his mission was.

Another thing he discovered about the crystal was that he could send brief images to her, but it took a lot of power, so attempting contact was unwise.

He sent her visions of them dancing, or when she spoke to him through the thermos. They calmed him as much as they did her. He could feel the spreading joy within her when she remembered him. It made things immensely easier on him.

Along with many others, the Fright Knight returned a few days after the party, looking for Phantom again. Danny had fought him off, and Phantom remained hidden. It didn't matter that Phantom would've given a lot to be able to fight his own battles, or  
/even that he would've gotten to scare the crap out of his younger self. There was almost no simple pleasure that out-ranked taunting Danny when he was trying to be the hero.

Of course, the little fool admitted that Andy and Sam left town for protection. Phantom had nearly burst through a building to whack his younger half upside the head for that one. Even if the Fright Knight didn't admit anything, Phantom knew he would  
/send a Ghost or two searching for Andy and Sam. There were portals everywhere, not just where Ley Lines crossed. It didn't matter where they went, a Ghost could find them. Or worse.

He continued pacing. He _hated_ being cooped up. It was almost as bad being the Mayor's 'brother' as it was to be trapped in that damned thermos. He had no room to roam. Even the public appearances were carefully planned. Sure, he charmed crowds  
/easily. Of course, he could've had plenty of company to satisfy his boredom. But he didn't want this type of life. He wasn't an animal at a zoo. He was a force of nature, a hurricane of power contained inside the walls of mortal society. He was bound  
/to the earth, and the mansion, until it was time.

And it wasn't time yet.

…

"How long have we been driving?" Sam asked after bored silence had become too suffocating to bear any longer.

The radio was fuzzy this far out, and Andy didn't have any cassette tapes. The only music was the rhythmic tapping of pebbles in the wheelwells and the steady grumble of the engine. Zeus and Hades were only entertaining with their insults for so long,  
/and Andy didn't have the will power to make small talk after spilling what little she _did_ know about herself to Sam.

"I'm not sure. A few days?" Andy responded. "I stopped paying attention."

"Why don't we get a hotel or something? I think I'm starting to get seat sores," Sam adjusted again. "It would be nice to shower and sleep in a bed, even if it's a gross borrowed one."

"We can't stop moving. Thanks to your genius boyfriend, we're sitting ducks out here. At least when we're moving, we're harder to trace," Andy reasoned, looking up at the moon through a hole in the clouds. "Besides, we're almost there."

"Where's 'there'?"

"It's just a point on the map, Sammy," Andy answered. "I don't recognize it on a piece of paper."

Sam sighed. She looked out into the cloudy night as drops of rain began to tap the window of Andy's Chevelle. They were in the middle of nowhere, it seemed. Fields and silhouettes of trees passed by in the darkness outside the car. Even the wildlife didn't  
/seem to roam around here in the dark. The low grumbling of the old engine would've scared them off if they did.

Sam pulled the map out and unfolded it again, eyeing the worn paper. She'd picked up landmarks along the way, and was trying to piece together where they were. She traced the highway with her fingertip. There was nothing here. No city, no gas stations,  
/no stores, for miles. Why would Clockwork send them here?

Clockwork's face appeared in the rearview mirror. Andy would've jumped if she had any energy to do so. He didn't speak, but gestured vaguely.

Sam gripped the door as Andy pulled down a dirt driveway that was barely distinctive from the weeds. She slowed to a crawl and parked in front of what little framework remained from a small house. Both of them looked blankly out the windshield, unsure.

Sam eyed Andy nervously as she stepped out of the car and stood behind the open door, just staring at the house. A pit formed in her stomach.

"Andy, what are we doing here?" Sam opened an umbrella as she stepped out of the car. She looked at the structure with furrowed brows before turning back to the Ghost. "Andy?"

Andy didn't answer, nor did she turn to look at Sam. She shut the car door and started walking toward the abandoned house, not caring about the rain.

Sam followed her, Zeus and Hades on her heels. She was unresponsive to Sam's questions, and Sam _really_ didn't want to follow her inside.

"Go get her," Sam told the hounds. "We have to get out of here."

"I'm not going in there," Hades planted his butt firmly in the grass.

"None of us are," Zeus amended. "Not even the dead ones."

Andy wasn't listening to their chatter. She stepped up onto the sinking porch and pushed open the front door easily, as it was hanging on only one hinge. The creak made Sam and the hounds stop bickering, but Andy stepped over the threshold. She had a  
/sense of fear deep within her. Not as if the place was truly dangerous, but as if she was walking on tainted earth. Her black eyes darted around the falling structure with purpose.

The furniture was in ruins, as if the place had been ransacked years ago. Wallpaper was in shreds that piled on the floor and hung from the walls, and mold was growing in the stained and ripped carpet. The roof was leaking, and had been for a long time,  
/growing moss in sections. The floor sank in places from the rotting wood, and the smell of stale air mixed with mildew sank into Andy's lungs. The recliner in the corner was lopsided, flashing an image in Andy's mind:

A man sat with a little girl in his lap. The light from a lamp that no longer stood there casting a warm glow on their faces. They were looking at a car magazine; one that was well worn and dog-eared, and he tore a page from it.

Andy touched the dust-covered armrest, remembering spilling a cup of grape juice there. A rust-colored stain was barely visible on the dirty cloth. She reached instinctively into the side of the cushion, pulling out a wrinkled piece of ruined paper. It  
/had a faintly-runny picture of a Chevelle on it.

It was the one her dad wanted to build.

Memories came flooding back as Andy looked around the house. Her eyes cast changing flashes into the darkness, thunder rolling overhead.

There was a rotting wood desk against the wall. It was long-since broken into, and drawers hung agape or sat on the floor beside it. Gouges and scrapes were colored with the same sinking rot that Andy felt inside. Graffiti was carved into its panels and  
/crossed out, and abandoned cobwebs too up residence in its corners. Andy ran her fingers under the ledge instinctively, triggering a secret drawer. Inside was a dust-covered pocket knife.

She brushed the dust away with her thumb gently, already knowing what she would see: _D.A.C._ was carved into the wood handle. She clutched the dusty object to her soaked chest, feeling her eyes begin to sting.

Tears began to silently drip from Andy's lashes as she lifted her gaze upon the rest of the ruins. This was her home. This was where she grew up. She remembered this house. She remembered the exact stool that she sat at to do her math and English workbooks  
/that her father brought her. She remembered burning her hand on the stove in the kitchen when she was seven. She remembered how her dad kept his cans of Budweiser in the door of the fridge, and how he always kicked off his shoes by the door that led  
/from the garage.

She remembered watching TV as her dad slept in the recliner. Scooby-Doo was her favorite. She always laid on the floor with the family dog to watch it. She slept on a Looney Tunes bed set for longer than anyone should, and knew every song Def Leppard,  
/Poison, and Aerosmith ever wrote.

She felt as if she was being suffocated as memories came back. She was watching her whole life at high speed, all at once. The tears kept falling, and Andy couldn't stop them. Her breathing echoed in the empty room, audible over the low rumble of thunder  
/outside.

She pocketed the knife and wiped furiously at her eyes, trying to breathe.

The kitchen was unrecognizable now. The fridge had been removed, and the stove had burned itself out. The sink was broken into pieces, and the curtains that used to hang above it were gone. She lifted her face to the window, looking out and seeing Sam  
/and the hounds in the front yard beside the car.

Her memory flashed again.

Another Chevelle, pushed through a wood fence, with smoke billowing from it.

She _remembered._

Her dad was drinking. Her mother had just left again, and they had fought about her always being gone. He'd loved her so much. Andy was seventeen then.

She'd begged him not to grab that bottle, but he did. She would've stopped him from leaving if she wasn't a wreck already. Her mother had just left her again. No matter how many times she'd been through it, the pain never got easier. She'd stopped walking  
/her mom out to the car years ago, but it never stopped the trips. She always left. It hurt like hell, but she had to be strong for her father, or they wouldn't pay the bills. She couldn't let them go hungry.

Her dad didn't give up so easily. He always walked her out, asking her to stay. No matter how many times she denied him, he always asked again the next time. She always kissed him goodbye, and he never failed to watch her drive away, rain or shine.

Except this time.

He'd had enough, finally. He wasn't going to let her go again. He had gotten into the unpainted Chevelle that he had been working extra hours to afford parts for, drowning in whiskey and his own tears. He told her that he was going after 'Evie'.

 _Evie._ That was her mother.

She ran a big financial company in the city. It was no secret that she was also spending time with her family when she was away. Andy overheard her on the phone one day about it. Her mother was embarrassed of them.

Andy stopped trying to connect with her after that.

He shot out of the gravel driveway too fast, not looking before he got onto the road. Back then it was a small highway. Andy watched it all from the kitchen window that day, staying out of the summer heat. A big brown semi-truck with a fully loaded trailer  
/tanked the little car. It spun through the fence, stopping in the front yard. Andy had never believed a heart could truly break until then.

She had run out, screaming as loud as her lungs would allow and not caring about remaining calm and collected. Smoke billowed from the hood of the ruined car, rising into the hazy sky to block out the rest of the sun. She pulled at the door with all of  
/her strength, the metal searing her fingertips. She clawed on despite the burn, screaming for her father to wake up as the truck driver ran toward them. Glass and dented body panels littered the front yard, and tears rolled down her face. She couldn't  
/breathe through the smoke.

A dripping sound had her turning to the side.

 _Gasoline._

The tank had broken somewhere and was leaking fuel under the car. Andy knew from her days at the drag strip that if a car was leaking fuel, things could easily go wrong. She had a new strength in her fear. She was going to pull her father out of that  
/car if it tore her fingers to the bone.

She gripped at the door furiously, trying with all of her might to free her unmoving father from his steel prison. Her fingers bled with her efforts, tearing her fingernails free from her flesh, but she felt none of it through the fear. The truck driver  
/was yelling something at her from a distance, but she couldn't understand him. He was alive, so he could wait.

She screamed, pulling on the door, then reaching in the shattered window to shake her father. The shattered glass tore at the flesh on her arm, but she kept shaking him. She pleaded through sobs for him to turn and just _look_ at her. Surely if  
/he came to, he could crawl out of the window, and they could get away from the wreck. He had to turn around. She couldn't lose him too, she _couldn't_.

A flash pulled her from him, tearing away at her flesh, and numbing her pain.

After that, there was nothing.

…

Sam watched as Andy stood on the other side of the yard looking at a mass of tangling bush. The rain fell softly around them, trickling in the trees less heavily than a few moments before. A path of jagged icicles from the window trailed behind her in  
/the overgrown grass as she walked. Her eyes were completely black around vibrant blue irises. Her hands balled into fists, smoke-like ice falling from them.

Sam nervously turned to look around her, hoping no one was around to see Andy like this. On the other side of the yard were strange looking rocks. Zeus was sniffing them. Hades sat beside him, both hounds bowing their heads and laying down.

Sam looked back to Andy.

She had pulled at the brittle, frozen vines, exposing just what she had feared.

The rusted remains of a dented Chevelle. She covered her mouth, tears flowing faster down her cheeks. The door was removed, and dents from prying tools marked the door jams. The seats were a charred black where the years hadn't rotted them away.

Andy pried open the rusted ash tray, leaving frost on the charred dash. She ruffled through the dust.

 _Right where you always kept it._

Her father's wedding ring.

She unclasped her necklace and fed the chain through the dented and charred ring. A brush of her thumb showed the rough-edged gold band. It twinkled in the light of the crystal.

"Andy?" Sam broke her away from the painful images that flashed through her mind. She took one last look at the ruined old car with a sinking feeling. She took a deep breath, releasing fog into the air.

 _Love you, pop._

Andy turned around. Sam was standing on the other side of the front yard under an umbrella with the hounds. Andy walked over, trying to compose herself. When she got closer, she saw what Sam was looking at.

Andy still clasped the necklace in her hand as she approached. There were three headstones in a row, with vines pushed back from them. Andy squatted before them, then dropped the necklace into the grass.

Sam backed away, finding no words that would comfort her. The Hounds followed, heads bowed.

Andy fell to her knees before the headstones, her feeling of suffocation returning.

 _Darrel Anthony Carter, Loving Father, Husband, and Son_

 _1957-1996_

Andy looked to the next headstone, sobs becoming audible.

 _Evelyn Jean Manson-Carter, Loving Mother, Wife, and Daughter_

 _1958-1998_

Andy covered her mouth, trying to quiet her choking sobs.

 _Andrea Marilyn Carter, Devoted Daughter_

 _1979-1996_

She reached out to touch her name on the headstone, leaving charred marks on the weathered marble where her hand rested. The tears were coming in waves now, rolling down her cheeks and falling into the wet grass. Fog rose around her, and she tried desperately  
/not to wail. She was sitting over her own grave, in between the graves of her parents. She wanted to get up, but she couldn't move. A choking sensation overwhelmed her at the thought of how little space was between her and her own corpse.

Sam watched from afar, tears silently falling down her cheeks as she watched her friend, no, her _family_ , at the gravestones. Andy reached out to touch the smaller one in the middle, leaving a dark handprint behind. She cried harder, barely audible  
/over the sound of the rain, making Sam's chest ache.

Andy was her family, and she was buried in the ground. Sam hadn't known her long, not even as long as her aunt Evie, but the feeling of loss wasn't lessened. She was hurting, too.

Smoke was rising around Andy, small streams of gray winding up from the grass as she sat there.

When the noise stopped, Andy sat in the wet grass with her hands over her mouth, hunched over. The breaths of air she shouldn't have needed came in shaky, short rounds. The tears slowed, and the fog was clearing.

Sam came up behind her moments later, the umbrella she held shielded Andy from the gentle rain. She wasn't sobbing anymore, but the tears were still flowing slowly over her soaked cheeks.

"She was my mother," Andy finally whispered. "Your aunt."

Sam didn't say anything. Andy probably knew Sam had figured it out. She probably just needed to say it aloud.

"My father went after her the last time she left," she choked. "He loved her so damn much."

Sam knelt down beside Andy, rubbing her shoulder and feeling how warm she was.

"A truck hit him. There was smoke everywhere and the gas tank was leaking," she inhaled sharply, her voice breaking. "I pulled at that damn door as hard as I could."

Sam pulled Andy to her as they both cried.

Sam couldn't imagine the things Andy was describing. As frustrated as her parents made her, Sam couldn't imagine trying to pull one of them from a smashed car. No wonder Andy didn't like to talk about her family.

"He wouldn't look at me when I yelled for him," her voice broke, muffled in Sam's shoulder. "I remember _everything_."

Andy felt warm when Sam pulled away, looking her in the eyes. "I'm so sorry." She looked to Evelyn's gravestone. "She loved the two of you so much. My grandma used to tell me stories about it."

Andy sniffed, squeezing her eyes shut to get rid of the tears that still sat there.

Sam picked up the discarded necklace from the grass and put it over Andy's wet head. She pulled her up to her feet and guided her back to the car.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you still got to come to Amity Park," Sam whispered. "You're family, Andy."

Andy forced a small smile and pulled Sam closer under the umbrella as they walked. "I'm glad I got to meet you, Sammy."

"Let's get you to a hotel to get cleaned up," Sam comforted, rubbing her back.

Andy wiped her face and nodded, walking over to the driver's side. She stood by the open car door for a few minutes after the hounds and Sam were already in, just looking at the house.

 _Don't cry. Just breathe._


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Thomas felt everything. At first, he thought he was being attacked. There was a pressure within him that felt like suffocation, and a pain he didn't remember anything in his timeless existence compared to. He'd shot glares around the room, looking for his assailant. When he sensed just how alone he was, the pain increased.

Then he remembered Andy.

He'd managed through the agony to look through her crystal. He'd feared she was in danger. Maybe she had been captured after his idiotic younger self tipped off the Fright Knight. No doubt she was being tortured. What he saw through the crystal confused him.

Andy was looking out a dingy window over a dirty sink. It was raining, and there was a large bush that appeared to be causing her distress. Icicles clung to the rotted structure of the windowsill, and frost coated the dingy glass.

Confusion ebbed the suffocating sensation as he waited for her to do or say something. Was she in danger? Was she hurt?

She phased right through the wall and walked at it, feeling panicked and a toxic mixture of fear and grief. She pulled at the brittle leaves, breaking pieces falling away and exposing a rusty metal frame. No, it wasn't a bush; it was a car. It was charred and rotted on the inside. She ran her fingers over pry marks in the door jams, leaving trails of frost behind her fingertips.

 _Why is this scrap car making you feel like you're dying?_

She opened a tiny compartment in the ancient heap and dug through dirt, producing a dingy little silver circle. Ice coated the ruined dash, and ice formed on the circle. The crystal shook, then the dirty little circle _tinked_ beside it.

She had taken it off to put a circle beside it? Why?

The crystal dropped low, still in Andy's hand. Thomas saw her soaked, jean-covered leg swishing back and forth as she approached the goth girl under the umbrella. She knelt before three shapes that had been uncovered from vine, shock and anguish consuming her. The crystal shifted and cut off the connection.

The pain and suffocation halted immediately. Thomas sat down on an oversized bed, processing what he had seen and regulating his breathing. Andy wasn't unreasonably emotional, but this pain he felt was only part of what she was feeling. What about a rusty old car and a bunch of shapes by the goth girl made her feel such anguish?

It didn't feel like she thought she was in danger, and both the goth girl and the hounds looked free. No other Ghosts were visible, and, except for the frost, nothing supernatural appeared to be present in the weeded area. It was just rain and ruins. As harmless as it seemed, Andy was completely broken. He was tortured without knowing why she felt like this.

It seemed like hours before he felt the connection again. Andy had put the necklace back on, and she wasn't in as much pain. She felt broken, looking at the ruined little shack from behind a car door so old it had a rusted window crank. When she got in, the goth girl put a hand on Andy's arm, trying to comfort her.

They both appeared unharmed, much to Thomas's relief. He wanted so desperately to go to her. He wanted to take her into his arms and make the pain cease. He would _kill_ whoever had dared to make her feel such horrible things; slowly, and without mercy. He would do everything in his incredible power to insure the only feelings she felt were joy and maliciousness as they roamed their domain as gods.

And he would make _damn_ sure she never felt this pain again.

…

Andy and Sam made it to a cheap little motel not far from the house. They settled in quickly, grateful for something other than the bench seat of the Chevelle to sit on. Within an hour, Sam had showered and sprawled out on the stiff mattress in between the hounds.

Andy didn't bother to dry her hair after her shower, so she sat, fully dressed in dry clothes, in a chair by the door. She had washed the ash and dirt from her father's ring, and was absentmindedly turning it over in her hands. She was drained. Her mind had slowed to a hum as it searched through all of her memories.

She recalled sitting on her father's shoulders while her grandfather took a picture. She'd just beat out her cousins in a shooting contest on the farm. A makeshift 1st Place ribbon was pinned to her denim jacket.

She remembered sneaking beer into the garage when her father was napping, then getting caught. Her dad didn't yell. He didn't scold. He cracked one open and sat beside her.

"Don't tell your mom, and hang your car keys up on the board," was all he had to say. He'd even let her try whiskey with granddad when they drove up to visit. She always had a little when the older cousins played poker with granddad, her father, and her uncles. She never beat granddad, but nobody else ever beat her.

She remembered her mother coming home once a month for a weekend. They always went to lunch. It was a little café that was in a bigger city an hour or so from the house. Her mother always ordered some elaborate dish, but Andy only ever wanted a grilled cheese sandwich and a soda. Then, her mother would try to take her to get more clothes, but all she wanted was a pair of jeans and a new cassette tape.

Her mother was only home periodically, stopping in to change clothes or to grab a forgotten object. When she was home, her father pleaded with her to stay. She'd always kiss his cheek and tell him that she'd be back later, don't wait up.

The last time was no different, accept that Andy's father had already had a few beers. It had been a long day, and he liked to kick back with a cold one to watch TV when the day was finally over.

When her mother left again, he pulled out a bottle of whiskey. He only ever drank it with his father, who had passed away a few months ago, following Andy's grandmother. Her dad hadn't touched whiskey since then, but kept a bottle on the shelf to remember. It was right next to a picture of granddad and grandma. Andy always touched it when she walked by, leaving messy dandelions by them. Her grandma always wished on them.

Andy tried to remind him that it was Grandad's whiskey, but he was two depressed to hear her. That big bottle was nearly half-empty by the time he grabbed for the keys to the Chevelle.

She wondered that day, amongst the pain, why he grabbed those keys. The Chevelle had only been test driven once since they got it running. Andy feared it would break down trying to keep up with her mother's sleek, black, foreign car. The tires were from a scrap yard, and the gauges didn't work right. She held the tow truck's keys in her clenched fist as she watched him get the creaky driver's door open.

That was her fear when he took off. That's why she didn't stop him. She didn't think the car would make it. She never thought her dad wouldn't.

Andy shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. No tears came. They were dried up. She'd grieved, mourned, but now it was time to move on. She still had to be strong. There was a job to be done.

"You'll never be done mourning," Clockwork appeared in the chair opposite her, speaking in a low voice. "Mourning is infinite."

Andy just nodded.

"It's never easy when a ghost who forgets their life suddenly remembers," he spoke through a long white beard.

"Do all ghosts forget?" she asked, her voice barely about a whisper.

"No," he answered softly, becoming a youthful adult. "It's rare. It usually means there was a tragic death."

Andy looked back down at the ring.

"He was already gone when I got to him, wasn't he?" she met Clockwork's thoughtful gaze, eyes a deep sapphire, but no longer glistening. "I was too late."

Clockwork nodded. "He tried to stay behind for you when it happened. When the car exploded, he thought he would see you on the other side. So he went to wait for you."

"Does he know what happened?" Andy managed. "Does he know I didn't follow him?"

"The other side isn't within my realm. Time doesn't reach over there, neither do I," Clockwork answered. "He had a difficult time deciding to go without you. He wanted you to be with him if you didn't have a chance at making it out alive."

Andy's voice was weak, but lacked emotion. Clockwork barely heard her ask, "Then why did I stay?"

Clockwork pondered that question, "Ghosts stay behind for different reasons. Yours is perhaps fate."

"Fate?" Andy's broken voice displayed disbelief as she looked at him with unlit gray eyes.

"Look where you are," he said. "Where would all of these humans and ghosts be without you?"

Andy looked back at Sam's sleeping form under the limbs of the hounds. "Safe in their beds, probably worrying about homework and tests."

Clockwork shook his head, "Look harder."

Andy looked back to him, but he was gone.

…

Andy had calmed into an odd state. It felt almost like sleep, but she knew it wasn't. Ghosts don't sleep. But she was resting. She had sunk lower in the chair, her eyes were glossed over and unresponsive to the snoring of the hounds. It was peaceful; her mind was still, no longer showing her images that made her empty tear ducts ache in a way they shouldn't have been able to.

It was nearly dawn when a hiss of icy air woke Andy from her daze. She scanned the room with black eyes, frost sprouting around the room. Her disguise dropped immediately, but her limbs remained in their fizzing state of rest.

A figure stood in the corner of the room by Sam's sleeping form, untouched by the ice. It put a finger up to its hooded face, making a _shh_ gesture.

Andy stepped forward, planning to attack when he shot at her. Ectoplasmic bonds bound her feet and hands together and gagged her mouth before her lagged body could dodge. The sounds woke the hellhounds, who stood over Sam's limp form snarling protectively.

The bonds burned her when she tried to use her powers to free herself. She watched, panicked, as the figure waved his hands over the charging hellhounds, making them vanish in before they could attack, making enough noise to cause Sam to stir.

Andy's eyes widened. She knew they were in trouble. He grabbed sharply for Sam's throat, waking her up and choking off her yells.

Desperate, she tried to free herself from the bonds, coating ice over her skin where they burned. It wouldn't be fast enough to break through, but she had to try. She couldn't let this happen, she'd promised Danny.

She'd promised _herself_.

Andy managed noises from behind the gag, irritating the Ghost. Sam still in his grasp, he strode over to Andy.

A massive metal hand appeared through the sleeve as it raised over her, glowing a deathly green. Andy's eyes widened, and the hand came down to strike her, knocking her into unconsciousness.

Sam tried to scream, but the Ghost squeezed harder. She coughed, gasping for air through her compressed windpipe. This ghost was hooded, and Sam couldn't make out any features in the darkness of the room. The Hellhounds were missing, and Andy was dazed on the floor. She was bound in glowing bonds, probably inescapable. Sam's wide amethyst eyes looked back to the Ghost.

"Now we have him," the Ghost hissed.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Thomas felt her panic. It ran in waves under his skin. Anger and fear burned in his gut. Something wasn't right. This was different than the dull ache she was feeling before, and the suffocating emotion before that. The feeling was cut off with a sharp pain, then there was nothing. Something was _wrong_.

The crystal didn't show anything but a hazy green landscape.

 _The Ghost Zone._

"Son of a _bitch_!" Thomas screamed as he flipped a heavy wood table.

This was all Danny's fault. Not only had he had the moronic idea to send them away, he had given them up! Thomas clenched his fists. He _knew_ this would happen. Now Andy was in the Ghost Zone being held hostage.

"What on earth did you have to do that for?" Vlad stood in the doorway without his usual composure.

"That moron," Thomas growled. "This is all his fault."

"The table is quite intelligent considering its inanimate nature," Vlad quipped, folding his hands behind his back.

"Forget the table!" Thomas roared.

"I'll do my best," Vlad answered, raising a brow.

"They've been taken." Thomas's teeth were bit together and his fangs had become evident.

"Who?"

"Andy and the other one in purple. They've been taken into the Ghost Zone as bait," he growled, gripping the table's edge hard enough to crack the wood.

"To draw you out?" Vlad inquired calmly, remaining in the doorway.

"Yes."

"Why Miss Carter? What connection have you with her?" he asked. "A pawn, perhaps? Or did they believe that little act on the dancefloor?" Vlad raised a brow, taunting him.

"She released me," Thomas hissed lowly.

"And you've so foolishly gone on to generate _feelings_ for her?" he scolded, putting the pieces together. "This is exactly how they win. You aren't supposed to have weaknesses like those."

"Like you and Maddie?" Thomas fired back.

Vlad narrowed his eyes, but didn't further argue.

"I'll end them all," Thomas hissed, eyes glowing red.

"That would be playing into their hands," Vlad reasoned, holding his narrow fingers up to demonstrate. "You need a better tactic than that."

"Do you have any better ideas?" Thomas looked back viciously.

Vlad crossed his arms behind his back, "They will send a message one way or another. They know who you are and mean to expose you, so my guess is that they'll notify you soon. When they send the message, send one back."

Thomas's brows raised.

 _A message._

…

Andy opened her eyes. Her lids were heavy, and her head ached. She sat up, reaching for her forehead.

A heavy clink echoed in the room.

 _Chains._

She was chained to the wall with glowing green shackles. She tried to freeze them, but the shackles shocked her.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," a voice came from the far corner of the room.

Andy's eyes shot over in the direction of the voice.

A hooded figure stepped into the light of the torches and removed his hood.

"I should have guessed _you_ off all ghosts would be sent after us," Andy snapped.

Skulker laughed, "It's only fitting. A hunter to track down the prey."

Andy looked over to the other side of the cell. Sam lay in chains made especially for humans. She hadn't awakened, but there was bruising on her neck.

Andy tried not to panic. She looked at her captor through lowered brows.

"What's in this for you?" she asked. "Just for the sport?"

Skulker smiled darkly. "A rare prize when success is accomplished."

"Which is..?" Andy asked impatiently.

"A Shadow Ghost," he smiled. "There's only two others in the Ghost Zone, and they are already claimed or too powerful to be captured."

"A what?"

Skulker gestured to her.

Andy looked at herself. She did look like a shadow. But why was that special?

"What does my appearance have to do with rarity?"

"Shadow Ghosts possess abilities that other ghosts don't," he explained. "Some can take the form of anything to camouflage, some control light, and so on. You also happen to be an asset."

"So why is she here?" Andy gestured with her head, as she was too tired to lift the heavy chains.

"Bait," he smiled. "Phantom is bound to come after the two of you. His childhood sweetheart, and his releaser."

Andy laughed at that, pulling her knees up, "Phantom feels nothing for anyone in his past. She's simply another human to him. The younger one, maybe. But that's not who you're after, is it?" She was snarky, purposely irritating Skulker. She knew if she made him feel inferior in any way, he was vulnerable, and had to prove himself.

"Well that's unfortunate for her, isn't it?"

"How so?" Andy pulled the chains into her lap tiredly.

"I have no use for her, therefore she is to be disposed of." He waved a hand, making a cage stuffed with ghosts appear. "Perhaps she would be a nice little snack for my prey."

Panic raced through Andy. She had to think of something. Even if it was to keep Sam here, locked up in the same cell, so be it. If she was with Andy, it was better than being alone with a captor. Ideally, she could get Sam away from the Ghost Zone. If she was back in Amity Park, she would be safer than anywhere else.

"Or a messenger," Andy said suddenly, her eyes shifting from black to a malevolent purple.

"What?" Skulker was more irritated than curious. "A messenger?"

"Think about it," Andy chuckled weakly. "If you send one of your own to deliver the message, Phantom would destroy it and send its remains back to you in a box."

"Why would he kill the messenger?" Skulker asked, skeptical.

"Because it sends a message," Andy replied, glaring purple through her brows. "And a gruesome one, at that."

Skulker looked annoyed, but Andy tolerated the shock of the chains to alter his mood to curiosity.

"How would we send the human child back as a message, not as a release?" he pondered to himself.

"We send something from the Shadow with her," another voice came through.

The voice belonged to the Fright Knight. He stepped into the cell menacingly. Andy lowered her brows further, rolling to her knees.

"A lock of hair, perhaps?" he continued, eyeing her dark form. "You don't have much else on you."

"Hair could be from anyone," Andy grumbled. "I mean, assuming you're not bald under that fancy tin foil."

"Then what do you suggest we send?" The Fright Knight leaned into her face, tilting up her chin with his sword tip. "One of those pretty eyes of yours?"

Andy's eyes flashed red and she lifted her hands to grab the sword. The chains shocked her, as she expected.

She concentrated and removed the shadow from the necklace for the fraction of a second during the shock, catching his eye. It worked. She held her glare, eyes red.

The Fright Knight flicked his wrist quickly, tangling the necklace around the sword.

"Well, well, well." He yanked the chain free of her neck, causing the camouflage to disappear. "What do we have here?"

"Give that back," Andy hissed.

"So, the Shadow does accessorize," Skulker laughed.

Andy felt her vaporous skin heat up when the necklace was removed. She kept herself angry, insuring they played into her plan.

Sam stirred, rattling the chains that bound her. She looked around, remembering what had happened.

"Andy," she whispered in disbelief. "What's going on?"

Andy met her eyes, dimming to a cold sapphire. "Sorry, Sammy." She looked back at the two ghosts. "Just stay cool. It's not you they're after."

Sam still looked worried as Skulker approached. She must have recognized him, because she glared.

"Come now, human child," he grabbed her chains and pulled her along.

The Fright Knight approached with Andy's necklace.

"You're going to deliver a message for us," he said, putting the necklace over her head. "The less you fight, the better."

Andy caught Sam's eyes. Her hands glowed despite the shocking from the shackles. She looked from Sam's eyes to the necklace and back again with emphasis on her hands. Her irises were black, and it was hard to tell what she was looking at.

Sam knew that Andy meant to tell her something, but she didn't know what it was.

Andy lifted the heavy chains to tap her chest, where the necklace used to sit, then conjured up the orange glow again, willing Sam to understand. The necklace gave power, Phantom had made it so. Maybe Sam could protect herself.

She wasn't sure whether Sam understood, and watched Skulker walk away with her. She sent up a prayer and an apology to Danny.

Sam was trying to decipher Andy's silent message. The necklace? Was that what she was gesturing to? What good was it? Andy always had it with her. Sam always figured it was just a piece of jewelry that she liked.

Then Sam understood.

The necklace felt cold through her shirt as she remembered the frost around Andy that ceased when she dropped the necklace.

Andy's signals meant the necklace had some sort of power. Andy had tricked them into getting her to safety, _and_ managed to arm her with the only weapon she had.

Now she just needed to figure out how to use it.

Sam was being tugged along the Ghost Zone by the chains connected to her shackles. But these were made for humans, so they wouldn't be protected against ecto-energy.

At least that was the hope.

She concentrated. Her hands grew cold. Painfully so. The tips of her fingers turned purple, but the shackles began to sprout little icy designs. Sam knew she had to hit them against something before she got frostbite.

"Where are you taking me," she demanded of Skulker.

"Amity Park," he announced, taking flight.

"What's the message?" Sam asked.

Skulker laughed, "We are trying to draw out Phantom. We have his little Shadow. What do you think the message is, child?"

"Really? A hostage situation? You're just going to plop me down in town?" she sounded skeptical.

"You're right," he hissed. "That's not as threatening."

He whirled around and shot a net at her. She was hoping for impact to break the shackles, but the net was worse. It zapped her, sending electric currents through her body. Sam screamed in pain.

Andy heard it in her cell. She stood and pulled at her chains, calling for Sam. The shackles shocked her, making her angrier by the second. The Fright Knight watched with interest as she grew increasingly irritated by the glowing chains.

He noticed burn marks on the floor where she stood. Her eyes were a blazing red in her protective rage. Her yells grew louder, and the Fright Knight was growing nervous. He watched as her hair blew up from her head like flames, glowing the same orange as her ecto-energy.

He put up a shield just in time for Andy to blast out fiery energy like a nuclear bomb. He'd seen enough. He pushed a button on a small device, shocking Andy enough to weaken her. She collapsed on the stone floor in the center of a charred circle.

"Extraordinary," he hissed. "A Shadow with the ability to control fire."

Andy sat on her knees, weak and livid.

"No wonder Phantom saw such promise in you," he continued. "I bet he even offered you a partnership in his domain."

Andy's eyes blazed crimson, but she kept her head low.

"And that necklace," he clicked his tongue softly. "What a pretty gift for his faceless accomplice."

She didn't respond, though she was boiling.

"He's clever, using a young, powerful pawn that way," the Ghost taunted. "He tricked you into loving him. Now you'd do _anything_ for him, wouldn't you?"

Andy ground her teeth together, and the chains buzzed quietly to keep her in check.

He knelt before her, lifting her chin with his armored finger. Her red eyes contained such seething hatred that he almost laughed.

"Don't worry, child. Your dearest love will come for you," he taunted.

Andy narrowed her eyes threateningly, warming her skin despite the shocking of the shackles. The Fright Knight pulled his finger away in pain, the digit smoking.

He looked at her with fury and raised a hand.

"Try that again, Tin Man," Andy growled. "See what happens."

"I'll tear you apart and send your limbs to Phantom for that," he declared.

"Not unless your boss says so," she hissed back.

The Ghost eyed her.

"Don't tell me _you_ orchestrated all of this, metalhead," she taunted. "You're _somebody's_ bitch, arencha?"

He grabbed her chains and yanked her to her feet, "Listen closely, you arrogant tea-candle-of-a-Ghost—"

"It would be wise for you to not antagonize," a voice came from outside the cell.

Andy looked around the figure in front of her.

"Yes, my Lord," the Fright Knight dropped the chains and backed out of the way.

Andy's eyes faded to black as the figure came into view. "Pariah Dark."

He laughed, sending chills through Andy's vaporous skin, "Word does travel amongst the dead."

Fear sank in Andy's gut. The Ghost King was after Phantom, and she was bait. This meant _very_ bad things for her.

"So, you're the one who's behind this," she grumbled. "I figured the iron-errand-boy here wasn't bright enough to plan all this out."

Pariah laughed lowly, "Careful, Shadow Ghost. I stopped him from striking you once, but I may not be so kind the second time."

"Should I be thanking you?" she snapped.

"Considering your survival depends on my whim, you should be bowing in my presence," he replied darkly.

"You need me alive," she called his bluff. "Well, you get what I mean."

"You think so?" he cocked his head. "I only need your message. Whether or not there's anything left for Phantom to come after is irrelevant."

"What do you want with Phantom, anyway?" she asked.

"He's stolen something from me," he answered, a malicious scowl forming on his scarred face. "What do you think I want with him?"

Andy's eyes searched him. What could Phantom possibly have stolen that the Ghost King would miss enough to end him for? What would the Ghost King not think to defend?

Her eyes stopped at the top of Dark's head. She should've known. It was obvious as soon as he'd walked in.

The Crown of Fire.

"How'd you manage to lose your hat?" she quipped.

"I'm not surprised he didn't tell you," Dark continued. "You are, after all, only a pawn."

"Listen, you royal heinous bastard," she growled. "Get these medieval leashes off of me, and I'll consider asking Phantom not to separate your every molecule when he gets here."

"Do you still think his imprisonment had changed him?" Dark mocked. "How pathetically _human_ of you. He's still hellbent on destruction. Still addicted to power."

"And the pot calls the kettle black," Andy snapped. "Off all the Ghosts in the Zone, you think I'm pathetic? Who's the one that kidnapped the accomplice of the most powerful, vengeful Ghost ever to not exist?"

"Enough," Pariah roared. "He's nothing compared to me, even he knows it. He made attempts at the ring after you and the human female left Amity Park."

"You better pray he doesn't get it, you Kiss-wannabe. He'll destroy you," Andy growled. "He might do it without the ring, just for what you've done to me."

"Did you really think he cared for you?" the Fright Knight mocked.

"I'm only here because you seem to think so, you spike-headed douchebag," Andy bit out.

Dark grabbed the chains harshly and lifted Andy into the air, "Perhaps he will get here faster if we send him your tongue?"

The Fright Knight's sword pressed against her indistinguishable lips firmly, leaking ectoplasm.

Andy's eyes darkened to black. This was not good. Not good at all.

..

Sam was barely able to keep her eyes open as Skulker removed the net and dragged her through a portal by the chains. Her head lolled weakly between her raised arms. Below her were the empty, dimly-lit streets of Amity Park. Her sock-covered toes dangled in the air, hundreds of feet from the unforgiving ground.

Skulker stopped, holding up the chain so Sam was face-level. "Call your Ghost child."

Sam lifted her eyes to her captor's. She didn't have the energy to do anything but hang there. His shocks had worn her down. She didn't even have the energy to glare at him.

"Let me help you," Skulker grinned maniacally.

He shocked her again through the chains. Her shout echoed through the sleeping city, bouncing off of the tall buildings and ringing through the streets, just as Skulker wanted.

Danny heard her. He was waiting for it. Any sign of activity in the Ghost Zone, he was ready to go. The fact that Sam's voice registered first in his ears only fueled the fire.

In seconds, Danny appeared before Skulker. It didn't take more than one look for him to be pissed off.

"Let her go," he demanded.

"Alright," Skulker smiled. He released the chain in his hand, dropping Sam, then disappeared.

Danny dove after her. The chains were like an anchor, pulling her down to the ground at a speed he almost couldn't keep up with. He reached her too late, tucking around her and taking the fall himself. It hurt like hell, but he would heal. Sam wouldn't have come out as well from that fall.

He looked up in the sky from the crater in the asphalt, but Skulker was gone. He turned back to Sam. She was shackled in chains that were thawing. Her fingers were blue, and her hands were like ice.

Danny froze the shackles and shattered them. He lifted her gently, and carried her to his room. Once he settled her into his bed and bundled her up in blankets, he called Tucker.

It was nearly dawn by the time Tucker was phased through the window into Danny's room. He looked relieved to see Sam alive. Danny had told him that Andy had taken her away to be safe. She checked in with a vision every night. A few nights ago, the visions stopped. They assumed the worst.

"What happened?"

"Skulker had her. She was in chains, and he just dropped her and left," Danny said, sitting on the bed beside Sam. "She's freezing, and won't warm up. I don't know why. I've tried warm tea, wash cloths soaked in hot water, heated blankets, everything! It's like she's frozen on the inside or something."

Tucker pulled the cover back to look at her. Her lips were blue and she was paler than normal. True to Danny's word, her skin was ice cold. Ice sparkled on her lashes, and the sheets were frosted to her skin.

"Wait," Danny stopped Tucker's hands from pulling the covers back up. He reached in and pulled out a silver chain that was laying on the back of Sam's neck.

"What's that?" Tucker asked. "Sam doesn't wear jewelry. Especially not silver."

Danny unclasped it and pulled it away from Sam. He held it up.

"Is that..?" Tucker began.

"Andy's necklace," Danny finished, turning it over in his hand. It glowed slightly in the dimly-lit room. "Why is it on Sam?"

"Where is Andy?" Tucker asked.

"The Ghost Zone," Sam answered, sitting up. Color had returned to her skin and lips, and she wasn't shivering anymore. "She's a captive."

"What happened to you two?" Danny took her face in his hands. "Are you alright? Where did you go?"

"We were driving back, and we got a hotel," Sam began, her voice hoarse from being choked. "I fell asleep. When I woke up, a Ghost in a hood was choking me. The hounds were gone and Andy was tied up in ecto-bonds."

"Then they took you to the Ghost Zone," Tucker guessed. "And Andy is still there?"

Sam nodded. "I woke up chained to a prison cell in the Ghost Zone. Andy was in heavier chains than me, and they were glowing green. They put her necklace on me and Skulker brought me back. He said I was supposed to deliver a message."

"What message?" Danny asked.

"They want Phantom," she responded hoarsely. "The necklace is proof that they have Andy."

"We have to help her!" Tucker said. "But we don't know where Phantom is!"

"That's why they want to draw him out," Sam pieced together. "They want to expose him and turn the town against him. He'll go back to the Ghost Zone where he can't hide. Then his enemies have a shot at him."

"After what happened last time he was out, I don't see that being hard to do," Tucker quipped. "Why not let them?"

"We can't," Danny said.

"What?" Sam and Tucker said in unison.

"Andy said she can't destroy Phantom." He looked at both of them. "Something isn't right. We have to get her back before we can figure out what to do with him."

"That's going to be hard when he's the only one strong enough to free her," Sam countered. "He's connected to her. She's the one who freed him."

"Do you think she's had contact with him since she'd been here?" Tucker pondered aloud. "It's kind of a betrayal, but if she cares about him, she might risk it."

"Andy wasn't social, but she's smart," Sam reasoned. "If she had any contact with anyone, she would make it look like it was casual."

"Is she _that_ crafty?" Tucker asked. "She couldn't keep her identity from Danny."

"I heard her talking to Skulker in the dungeon. She manipulated him to get me back here safe. He probably doesn't even realize he was played." Sam put her finger to her lips in thought. "Who would she risk discovery for?"

Danny thought about that. A light went off in the back of his mind. "Of course!"

The two teens looked at their Halfa friend.

Danny clenched the necklace in his fist. "I know where he is."

Both teens eyed him expectantly.

"Well?" they said together.

"Stay here," Danny replied.

He took off into the night sky.

…

Vlad paced before the fireplace, no doubt plotting some devious plan that would blow up in his face. His ghost sense halted him. A green beam hit him, knocking him back to a bookcase.

Danny landed in the middle of the room.

"Ah, Daniel. I didn't hear your knock," Vlad quipped, getting up.

"Where is he?" Danny demanded.

"Who?" Vlad returned, convincingly innocent.

"Phantom," Danny demanded. "Where is Phantom?"

Vlad was about to feign innocence again, but Thomas cut him off.

"Don't give yourself an aneurism, Plasmius," he interrupted, standing at the foot of the stairs with his hands pulled behind his back.

"I have to admit," Danny said. "Of all people I expected you to be allies with, the last person I expected was this fruit loop."

Thomas laughed, "We have common ground." He paused for a moment. "How did you find me out?"

"I put the pieces together when I saw you dancing with Andy," Danny replied, calm, but not letting his guard down.

"So, you're here to capture me?" Thomas taunted. "Lock me up in your little thermos again?"

"Some Ghosts are after you," Danny stated.

"Old news," Thomas replied.

"They sent you a message," Danny said, his brows low.

"And what, pray tell, is that?" Thomas tilted his head to the side sarcastically.

Danny threw a small object at him. He caught it in one hand, the other still behind his back. He eyed the object.

 _Andy's necklace._

Thomas looked back up to Danny expectantly.

"Skulker dropped Sam off in Amity Park about an hour ago. She was wearing this," Danny cut his eyes to the chain. "I figured the message was for you."

Thomas closed the necklace in his fist, trying to maintain composure. "Did he say anything else?"

Danny shook his head. "Sam said she was shackled to a cell with special chains. It could be anywhere in the Ghost Zone."

Thomas felt Andy's fear and anger imprinted on the crystal. It was useless to him. He crushed the glass in his hand, absorbing the energy from the broken crystal. He would need every ounce he could get to properly dispose of the ghosts that had dared to lay their filthy ectoplasmic hands on her. Every last one of them would suffer as much as deadly possible for this.

"I want you to help me get her back," Danny stated.

Thomas laughed at that. He laughed hard. "Me help _you_? Why would I do that?"

"Because you aren't the only one that loves her," he responded with a cold stare.

Thomas's face became expressionless. He didn't love. He had no humanity. Love was what humans felt. It couldn't be love, that was ridiculous.

"Did you happen to ask your little girlfriend where they were being held?" Thomas asked through clenched teeth.

"Something tells me they are going to bring the fight to you," Danny answered.

…

Andy had been sitting on her knees letting the heavy chains pull on her arms for quite some time. She had given up trying to break the chains in her weak state. Her fear had dwindled to exhaustion, and the restful daze returned once the Fright Knight and the Ghost King left to plot their attack. She was waiting…patiently.

She was gaining energy in this state, she could feel it. When she gathered enough, she might be able to melt away the shackles with whatever the hell was making her char the stone beneath her.

When she heard the voices of her captors drawing nearer, she knew she didn't have the luxury of waiting much longer.

She pulled the heavy chain from the wall, grabbing it in her hands to use as a weapon.

When the Fright Knight walked in, she swung the chain, denting his helmet on impact. He collided with the Ghost King, and Andy bolted out of the cell.

She dodged the blasts from her captors as she flew through the prison. She managed to knock down several bonehead soldiers with the chain, and made a leap through their precious portal. The Ghost King and his army were right on her heels.

She could see Amity Park through the portal. She was mere feet from safety, from allies.

A green blast connected with her solidly, knocking her off course from the portal. She fell hard, pulled down by the weight of the chains.

She was surrounded by soldiers in an instant. They secured her in stronger shackles, and a heavy ball was attached to the end of the chain.

"Did you think it would be that easy?" Pariah Dark loomed over her. "Besides, I have a better idea."

His hands began to glow, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

…

"This is where they came through," Danny said, standing with Phantom on an empty road in the middle of the dark, quiet city.

"They never seem to pick an empty field, do they?" Plasmius quipped.

"Their portal must be nearby," Phantom stated sternly. "What makes you so sure that they will come here?"

A blast erupted from the sky. The three ghosts looked up.

A black figure came hurling down from a glowing portal.

"Incoming!" Plasmius yelled.

They jumped back. Something crashed down into the asphalt, creating a trench into the earth. People began to rush from the buildings, fleeing from the three Ghosts and whatever had fallen out of the sky. Glowing green shone through the dust.

Danny rushed up to see what fell, Phantom and Vlad floated back, keeping an eye on the portal.

Danny peeked over the ridge of broken road into the dust.

A large green ball was further away, and it had a chain coming from behind it. The chain split into two more, and had dragged behind the ball as it collided with the ground. Shackles were at their ends, and a figure seeping ectoplasm was trapped in them.

"Andy!" Danny shouted.

Phantom's eyes snapped down from the portal and he shot over to the glowing cloud of dust. Andy was chained up heavily, ectoplasm leaking from various locations on her shadowed body.

She stood slowly, her eyes black and low-lidded. "Danny."

Danny just stared.

"You should run," she said breathlessly.

"Look out!" Plasmius yelled.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Skeleton soldiers filtered out through the portal like angry bees coming out of a beaten hive. The screams of the fleeing citizens grew louder as more panic flooded the city. The clouded sky took on a green hue as Ghosts covered the dim horizon.

"Danny, _run!_ " Andy screamed.

Danny pulled on her chains futilely. "I'm not just going to leave you here!"

"I'm not asking," she said, eyes burning red. She stood, metal clanking heavily as she pulled. "Go!"

Danny stepped back. Andy was changing. An orange aura radiated from her. Her hair blazed a bright orange, wicking up like flames above her head. Her body glowed white with heat as her hair changed, and Danny had to shield his face from the temperature. She gathered the chains in her hands, lifting it from the trench.

Phantom was staring open-mouthed as she swung the heavy chains around like a wrecking ball. She was gaining speed now, spinning faster and faster. She released the wrecking ball, an orange glow around it as it flew through the air. It collided with skeleton soldiers as it flew through the portal. An orange flash followed it. Plasmius looked mildly impressed.

Andy fell back down into the crater, the aura gone. She swayed on her feet. Phantom rushed in to steady her. She met his crimson eyes with velvety red ones.

"Hey," she said to him breathlessly.

"If I thought you were magnificent before, you've completely rendered me without an adjective to accurately describe you now," he told her, holding her face in one hand as he steadied her with the other.

Andy smiled tiredly, "I hoped you'd get my message."

He swept her up into his arms and took off, getting her out of the line of fire. She had an arm around his neck, touching bare skin. She felt extremely warm. He held her close as he cleared the path. He weaved between the buildings as Danny and Plasmius provided cover fire.

"Take me back there," she sounded stronger a few moments later. "We have to stop them before they destroy the whole city."

"I won't let you get hurt because of me," he replied sternly.

"You need me!" Andy countered stubbornly.

"Tell me something I don't know," he set her down on top of a skyscraper. "Stay here, I'll be back for you." He turned to go.

She grabbed his cape and yanked him back harshly.

"I'm going back there with you," she said stubbornly. "I'm going to help you end this."

"No, you aren't," he demanded. "You're going to wait here this time."

"I'm not a child, Phantom. I can help you!" she shouted.

"You've done enough," Phantom growled. "The enemy is here. This is _my_ fight, and mine alone."

"I didn't free you from the thermos to be a housewife," Andy hissed. "You're fighting, and I'm with you."

"You're not involved in this, Andy," he objected, turning away and walking to the ledge. "It's me he's after."

"I know you took the crown," she retorted.

Phantom stopped but didn't turn.

"That was your plan from the beginning, wasn't it?" her voice was soft, but her words were sharp. "You wanted the crown and the ring so you could do it better this time around. Your second chance at destroying the whole goddamn world, and all you needed was some impressionable moron to let you out of the fucking thermos."

He turned around quickly, "No!"

"You wanted more power. It was never enough for you." Andy didn't stop, and angry tears started to flow over her dark cheeks. "And you know what the funny thing is?" She smiled through the tears, but there was no joy in it. "I'm still going to fight with you, because I'm too stupid to stop loving you."

"Andy, listen to me," he spoke over her, reaching a hand out to her face.

"Don't touch me, dammit, you made me let you out so you could ruin everything and I fell for it!" she screamed, slapping his hand away. "Go get your stupid ring and destroy the world!"

"I wanted the crown and the ring so I could be too powerful for Clockwork to destroy me!" he roared over the noise.

Andy stopped yelling, another tear dripping from her chin.

"I stole the crown from Pariah Dark so I could exist," He repeated. "Clockwork wouldn't allow me to be free if I did anything destructive, but that was my origin. The only other thing I could do was become too powerful to be denied existence. Dark was put away for how much power the crown and the ring gave him, so I stole the crown on my way to Amity Park. I was going to get the ring later, when he let his guard down, but my idiotic younger self sent you away. I knew if I didn't get that ring soon, something would happen to you, and it did. I was too late."

Andy looked up in his eyes, "Why should I believe you?"

"I'm telling you the truth," he replied, eyes almost pleading. "I may not have told you everything, but I have _never_ lied to you."

Andy remained closed off. "If we make it through this, you're going to pay for everything, Phantom."

" _We_ are going to make it through this, because _you_ are staying here," he gripped her shoulders urgently.

She jerked from his grasp, and took off, "The hell I am."

He grabbed her shoulders in flight and pulled her down to another rooftop, "Andy, _please_. Just stay here."

"Those bastards aren't going back into that portal until I've given them sufficient punishment for what they put me and Sam through," Andy glared back at him. "You of all Ghosts should understand vengeance."

"I understand, yes, but—"

"But nothing," Andy interrupted. "I'm not your little soldier anymore!"

"You never were! But after almost two weeks of not knowing where you were, I want you _safe_!" he yelled, looking into her stubborn red eyes.

"Look around! Who's safe?"

"You're already hurt! I don't know what I would do if you…" Phantom lost words.

Andy ground her teeth, "Died?"

Phantom looked away.

"I'm already dead," she hissed. "What's the worst that they could do? I was already electrocuted, bound, gagged, beaten, and blown up."

"Can't you just for once forget your brilliantly strong will and stay _safe_?" he growled.

"No one is safe!" she yelled back.

Phantom was losing patience, "Stay. Here."

Andy wasn't having it. "I'm going to fight with you."

"No," he growled. "You're not."

Her eyes flashed as crimson as his own as she neared his face and hissed, "Try and stop me."

He couldn't take it anymore. He took her face in his hands and pulled her to him. His lips crashed against hers fiercely, feeling the softness of them beneath the shadow. He snaked an arm around her back to pull her close. Both of her arms came up around his neck. Her fingers tangled in his vibrantly white hair as she kissed him, making him feel things he hadn't felt in far too long.

It was like he had been held under water until he was just about to pass out, then allowed to come up for air. She was the air. Her warmth against his icy skin thrilled him more than any sort of power he could attain. Every inch of the two of them melted together as perfectly as two oceans mixing at their borders. He'd waited a long time to do this, and he wanted to be able to do it again. He couldn't if something happened to her.

He pulled back, looking into her eyes with as much solemnity as he could. He put a hand on her cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb, "If something happens to you, I could never forgive myself. I have enough regret in my memory."

Andy stared right back, her eyes cooling to turquoise. She was just as stubborn as he was, "I'm already dead. What could happen?"

Before he could protest, she had taken off, headed for the fight. She took the perimeter, taking out the few soldiers that had spread out. They were easy to get rid of, but their numbers would be a problem, they realized as they approached the mass. Andy's wrecking ball had caused the portal to shut, and the soldiers kept the four ghosts too busy to aim for the leaders of the pack.

They sat above the fight, just watching.

Andy landed behind Danny, taking out a group of skeletons that were charging him with a wall of her newfound fire.

She charred them, leaving ectoplasmic residue in the ash as their only remainder. Danny wasn't having as much luck; he was taking care of them one by one, and wearing himself down.

Phantom and Plasmius barely looked winded as they flew around. They were as relaxed as if they were only doing a simple target practice.

"We need some way to wipe out the mass," Danny panted. "Fighting them like this takes too much energy."

"I think I know what to do," she turned, seeing Phantom beside her. He smiled wickedly.

Andy pulled Danny down by the back of his suit, earning a yelp, and covered her ears. He seemed to get the hint, and did the same. Some distance behind them, Plasmius had ducked for cover.

Phantom sucked in a breath, widening his stance, and wailed. The piercing sound blasted through the air, shaking the ground around them. The army of skeleton soldiers was blown back several yards, and the front few lines had dissipated into dust. The ground formed a trench from the force of the wail, and dust stirred up in the distance.

Andy covering her ears barely did a thing, for Phantom's wail was louder than any other sound she'd experienced. It reverberated through her like the sound of thunder, and ached in her ears. Even behind him, the noise was beyond booming. She half expected the sky to crack and fall in on them.

When it stopped, Andy looked up at Phantom. He barely looked winded, and was rushing back to finish off the mass that was left.

"That's only going to push them back," Danny said. "It's not enough."

"I know, I'm trying to think," Andy put a hand to her head, but didn't have much time to ponder before blasts fizzed past her.

She shot forward, pulling her energy around her in a shield. The soldiers shot at her, but the shield reflected their blasts back at them. It left a trail of burnt rubble behind her as she charged.

Plasmius was enjoying himself, displaying his own power and laughing evilly off in the distance. He shot wine-colored beams at the clumsy corpses below him. References to different kinds of cheeses would echo in the air when a shot came close to him.

Andy landed in a clearing, hitting the ground hard and forcing her energy out around her, vaporizing some of the soldiers. She waved her hand swiftly, throwing a curved blade of orange power out from one side. She pointed a finger-gun facetiously at a single soldier close by and made a low shooting sound as she took it out. She blew on her finger confidently with a wicked smile hidden in the shadow of her face.

Phantom was enjoying the fight as much as Plasmius. After being cooped up in the Mayor's house for so long, he was more than happy to use up his energy. He shot plasma balls out into the crowd, taking out ten at a time and laughing wickedly. This was his element, and he reveled in it. He froze the crowd and bowled with plasma, laughing wickedly when he knocked every 'pin' down.

Danny was running on fumes. His frustration kept him going. He had brought a thermos, and was pulling in the skeleton soldiers by the dozen. But there were so many of them. One thermos and four ghosts against a Ghost King, the Fright Knight, and a couple hundred soldiers wasn't a very fair fight. He thought of what they did to Sam and Andy to fuel his rage.

A soldier jumped Andy from behind. Her foot was kicked out and she collapsed before she could plan her retaliation. In seconds, more soldiers piled on top of her. They shocked her, preventing her from fighting back. The mass was too heavy to lift, and she couldn't move her limbs. She was trapped.

Danny had filled the thermos. He strapped it to his back and started shooting. The soldiers were coming from all angles, causing him to keep moving. Adrenaline pumped in his veins and he was breathing hard. They were backing the mass into a clump now, and the numbers were beginning to dwindle.

Phantom and Plasmius circled the crowd, herding them together. They were piling up in the center from the ghosts' efforts. They set a fire around the soldiers to keep them in and began thinning the pack. Danny froze the edges of the crowd, forcing the cold upon them like a blizzard. Phantom caught on and aided him, freezing the army's remaining mass in minutes.

Phantom glared up at the two Ghost leaders. They appeared content, as if this was their entertainment. Phantom wasn't one to be made a pawn of, and his eyes blazed crimson at the thought.

"We can finish it!" Danny yelled. "If all four of us hit it at once."

"We appear to be one short," Plasmius noted.

"Andy?" Phantom called her name. "Andy!"

She was buried beneath thawing corpse-ghosts. Her warmth was melting the ice fast. She collected herself and concentrated on her heat. Whatever she had done when she was captive would free her. She just had to remember how.

Danny looked down at the heap. A familiar orange glow was growing brighter and brighter beneath the ice. It lit up the cement landscape around them, and he knew she was in there.

She was sure as hell going to get herself out.

"Andy?" Phantom eyed the mass.

"You're going to want to duck," Plasmius called, heading back to the cover of the buildings.

"She's still in there!" Danny called.

Phantom grabbed Danny's collar and dragged him back to safety. His younger self was compassionate, but not very bright. Phantom plopped him down on a rooftop and watched the orange mass.

Even the Ghost King and the Fright Knight were focused on the orange light. Their humorous banter had ceased, and their full attention was on the heap of frozen corpses. They looked almost worried.

Andy felt ready to burst. Her emotions raged within her, fueling the fire. The tar of the broken road below her was boiling and burning, and ectoplasm smoked from the incinerated skeleton soldiers that were piled on top of her. Her area inside of the mass was white-hot with energy, blinding her with light, even behind her eyelids. Fistfuls of hair in her hands flicked like flames as she ground her teeth together against the pain she was feeling. She was sure she could incinerate herself as this temperature. She kept it building and building, grunting with her efforts.

Then she let it go.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

A flash of light lit up the night sky. A sphere of white energy burst from the mound of ice, swelling out like a nuclear bomb. The ice mound and remainder of the army was vaporized instantly, but orange waves continued to burst outward from the center of where the mass had once been.

Phantom, Danny, and Plasmius shielded themselves in the distance as the waves reached them, shaking the building they had taken shelter in. The shields of energy each of them had erected as a reflex were cracking with the force of the blow. Their insides turned as if they were being beaten, and they clung to the rooftop to avoid being knocked back.

Andy felt the energy leaving her in waves. The build had nearly incinerated her, and releasing the energy relieved the pressure she felt. Her eyes were shut tight against a bright white light, and her scream echoed within the sound of the blast. It charred the remainder of the road and beat against the concrete buildings around her.

The energy stopped and reversed. It sucked back in toward Andy and collided hard. The force sent out a shockwave and dropped her glowing white form to the center of a deep crater, and she lost the light that had consumed her.

She stood back up with a lot of effort, putting her hands on her knees and groaning. She stood stiffly, and put her hands on her hips to catch her suddenly-needed breath. She looked around, admiring her handy work. Not a single soldier was left, and no windows remained.

There were several circles around her, all varying degrees of burnt, and the trees in the planters were blown back. She gave a satisfied smirk and turned her malevolent purple eyes to the unhappy audience up above. Her hand raised up, and she saluted them arrogantly.

Danny, Plasmius, and Phantom approached her, floating over the smoking ground. Plasmius patted her back once, amused.

"Well done, Miss Carter," he said politely. "I'm sure everyone in Amity Park has good insurance.

She looked at the buildings, guilt panging in her momentarily, "I hope so."

Phantom smiled proudly with his hands folded behind his back, as if he knew all along that she was an ectoplasmic nuclear warhead. Danny just looked overwhelmed. They all stood in a line facing the remaining two enemies.

The Ghost King flew closer, clapping slowly and looking amused.

"Well, well, well," he smiled haughtily. "You've put together quite a team, Phantom."

He didn't respond. No one did.

"Unfortunately, I'm not interested in your team effort nonsense." He waved his hand, shooting beams at three of the four opponents.

Phantom stood alone, his three allies trapped within prisons of eco-energy. He mentally kicked himself for not stopping in to end the Ghost King before he came to Amity Park. It would have made things much easier. Someone must have seen him. Perhaps it was those ancient vultures that Plasmius employed. They were dumber than they were helpful. Now he ran the risk of exposure from his foolish younger self, destruction by the power-hungry Ghost King, and destruction of his only companion: Andy.

She was captive now, because of him. He owed her a debt, aside from their companionship. She was the one who had set him forth on his mission, giving him a second chance to exist. Beyond the monumental importance to his mission, she was his ally. Even before he knew it, she cared about him.

He still remembered the day he first heard her angelic voice through the metal walls of his cylindrical prison:

He was completely burnt out. The white-hot rage that once fueled him had dimmed to a glowing ember of grumpiness. He was bitter toward Clockwork for keeping him prisoner, and himself for losing to the fourteen-year-old version of himself. His only company was his regrets and his grumblings. Then, in the cramped darkness, he felt a shift.

Andy had picked up the thermos, wondering what it was. Phantom didn't make a sound until she shook it briefly. In his aggravation, he'd snapped at her.

"Put me down!" he'd yelled.

Andy let out a small noise of surprise and dropped the thermos entirely, landing Phantom right on his head before clinking several times and settling on the stone floor.

Andy tapped the thermos with her fingernail, right by Phantom's squished shoulder. He knocked back with his elbow.

"Just put me back, you clumsy fool." He was in no mood for Clockwork's torment.

He was surprised to hear a voice that didn't belong to Clockwork outside the container. "There's a _person_ in there?" it said, surprised. "Oh my god."

She picked it up and carefully righted it, turning it slowly in her hands. Phantom maintained an agitated scowl as he felt himself being rolled over. He twisted and clanked against the walls as it turned, like he was in a dryer.

"Just put me back on the shelf," he snapped. "Carefully, you imbecilic lout."

He felt the prison set back in its place, "There's no need for harsh language. Especially not _foreign_ harsh language."

"You've dropped me onto my head," Phantom snapped, muffled to Andy's ears. "I should think I've earned the right to call you whatever I please."

"I'm sorry I dropped you," the feminine voice became soft. "I thought it was just a decoration."

Phantom remained in agitated silence.

A soft tap came from the wall behind his back, "I've heard of the Box Ghost, but never a Thermos Ghost," she giggled. "No wonder Clockwork keeps you locked away."

"I am not a Thermos Ghost, you vexation," Phantom hissed, grumpily managing to fold his arms. "This is my prison, not my chosen domicile."

"You're trapped in a soup container?" the voice expressed confusion; perhaps doubting the sense in the situation. "Anything I ask about that would only raise more questions."

"Then don't ask anything else," he grumbled.

"What? No tragic backstory?" Andy quipped.

"Don't you have another soul to torment?!" he shouted, making the thermos hop.

Andy jumped back slightly. "I've met my limit for the day."

"And I suppose I'm the lucky remainder that can't fly away?" he snapped.

Andy smiled wickedly, evident in her voice, "How fortunate for you."

"If you aren't going to figure out how to release me, then depart from my earshot," Phantom grumbled.

"Or what?" she asked, feigning innocence. "Does the grumpy Thermos Ghost not like company?"

Phantom shut his eyes and rubbed at his temples, "I told you, I'm not a _Thermos Ghost_!"

A bell-like laugh sounded from the outside, growing fainter. Whoever it was had left.

Phantom settled back into his grumpy fog. He sighed shortly.

Regularly, he would hear the voice around the tower, either talking to Clockwork or singing to herself. Sometimes he would hear the familiar _tap, tap, tap_ of her announcement. He usually replied with some sort of insult. She would annoy him further, he would ask her if she didn't have anything better to do, to which she described her day's mischief. In detail.

As his imprisonment dragged on in the time-neutral tower, the stories of the young woman who tapped on his container became an enjoyment. She shared her stories of tormenting the other ghosts, and he gave her tips and tricks that he knew certain specters feared.

She began asking him questions that, he assumed, Clockwork refused to answer. He told her his story, not in detail. He wasn't sentimental, anyways. Apparently, she didn't remember much of her own. To his surprise, her sympathy was comforting. She, evidently, knew what loss felt like.

Somehow, he began telling her of his plans for his own domain. He told her random details of the paradise he'd envisioned once he returned to the Chronological Map. He'd even told her she could haunt there with him, if she wished, meddling in the uninteresting lives of the townspeople.

They talked like this for quite some time. He'd begun to care for her. He waited for her to return from her adventures with stories and quips about the Ghosts she encountered. Her angelic voice soothed him from the malice and bitterness inside him, and he even caught himself humming the old rock songs she sang. Her stories washed away the rage, and he was beginning to wonder what it would be like to haunt alongside her. She was changing him.

He'd resisted in his own way, putting on a front of grumpiness when she would amiably pick on him. He stopped minding the shifting of the Thermos as she toted him to the other rooms of the tower in her arms. She would use Clockwork's portals to watch baseball and concerts from different times, and Phantom would listen to her chattering, smiling contently. He would deny the acceptance, telling himself it was just to gain her trust so she would release him. That was the deal, anyway. She would release him, and he would return for her.

But his ambitions had evolved. He knew it wouldn't work if he planned to destroy everything. He knew Clockwork would stop him. But he was stubborn enough to try.

Until she released him.

When he first laid eyes on the Shadow Ghost, whose voice had dulled the ache of imprisonment, he forgot everything. Everything but her.

She was somewhat featureless, like he had gathered from her stories. But she was a silhouette of slender curves, and wild, wavy, waist-length hair. And those eyes. Those eyes flashed a bright yellow, like that of the peak of a sunrise, looking him up and down as he stood before her. They dimmed a rosy pink as he tilted her chin up to gaze into them, surprising him. He must've worn his emotions on his face, because her eyes returned to that same warm, golden yellow.

"You're even more beautiful than I envisioned," he said coolly.

Her cheeks raised, pushing up under her eyes as they shifted to pink again. A smile was hidden on her face. "You can barely see me," she snickered.

"More so now than before," he replied.

"From the way we met, I had thought you were like a troll. I'm happy to say I was wrong." She looked him up and down again with velvety red eyes. " _Quite_ wrong."

He laughed, "I'm glad you find me acceptable."

"Don't forget our deal," she said jokingly, still looking up at him. Her eyes turned purple, "Thermos Ghost."

"Phantom," he replied, brushing her cheek with the back of his fingers.

Her eyes returned to yellow, and one eye squinted as if pushed by a lowered brow.

"My name is Phantom," he repeated kindly.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Phantom," her eyes returned to pink. "My name is Andy."

"It's certainly better than 'vexation'," he chuckled.

She gave a laugh, eyes turning gold before they closed briefly with the sound of her joy.

He realized then that he didn't want to leave. The warmth of her vaporous skin could be felt through the glove on his hand, making him trace her cheek to feel more of it.

That's when he got the idea for the crystal.

The bright orange in her eyes that sparkled was enough to make him smile without the maliciousness that most who knew him were used to.

He told her it was a symbol to remind her of their deal. He promised he could never forget. From the memory of her dropping the Thermos to the moment he was standing in the charred street staring at the Ghost King, he never did forget her. Not even once.

But now, he felt the rage. The vicious hatred that had once consumed him was rekindled. This time, for the first time since his now-nonexistent creation, he would fight for the vengeance of someone else.

Andy. _His_ Andy.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Phantom stood tall, facing the scarred face of Pariah Dark. He crossed his arms over his broad chest as the Ghost king eyed him.

"You," Phantom said coolly. "I should have ended you when I passed by your realm."

"Is that what you think would have happened?" Dark responded. "You're as foolish as your adolescent counterpart."

"I did manage to steal the crown right off of your head," Phantom countered. "Was that without skill?"

Andy watched them exchange threatening words in a gentlemanly manner. She was full of fear and drained of energy. She would have given the rest of her afterlife to help Phantom beat the Ghost King. But she couldn't even break free of his confinement. Now he was set to fight the second most powerful ghost in the ghost zone. Later, he would defy the laws of the first.

All because she had pushed a button on that damned soup container.

A loud horn from behind her drew her attention. Sam and Tucker had hijacked some weird RV and were shooting at the two ghosts, not particularly caring who they hit. Tucker shouted out the driver's window as Sam shot blasts from the passenger window.

Andy beat against the walls of her ecto-prison. She yelled for them to not hit Phantom. She screamed for their retreat. If they were hurt, she could never forgive herself.

The RV skidded to a stop a few yards from the ecto-prisons that held the three Ghosts. Sam and Tucker exited the ridiculous vehicle, bearing equally ridiculous weapons. Sam shot at the Ghosts while Tucker worked at Danny's container first.

Everything froze. The blast from Sam's gaudy weapon was stuck in mid-air, and she was still flinched from firing. Tucker's plasma-cutter was in mid-glow, and Danny was shielding his eyes from the light.

A tap on her shoulder startled her, and she let out a yelp.

"Clockwork," she sighed.

"He'll get hurt," the elderly Ghost said simply. "So will your friends. Dark will end them without a sideways glance. This will spark a rage in Danny. He will become Phantom to get his vengeance."

Andy's eyes remained fearful, "Is this how Phantom will exist again?"

Clockwork nodded. "Only some sort of great loss would ever make Danny turn into that which he fights so passionately."

"So Phantom's plan wouldn't have worked?" she asked.

"It would have, if it went according to his plan," Clockwork answered. "But it never was meant to happen that way."

Andy looked between the two Phantoms. "I can't save both of them, can I?"

Clockwork shook his head. "You never could."

"So I really was stupid to let him go," she whispered.

"This was all meant to happen," Clockwork corrected. "If it wasn't, I wouldn't have let it."

Andy looked at Phantom longingly.

"You've changed him," Clockwork shifted to his adult form, a look of amusement on his face. "Of course, I knew you would. But still, it's so wonderfully cliché, that I'm almost surprised."

Andy didn't respond. She knew Clockwork only said what he had to, and you couldn't rush him out of his schedule. She remained on her knees with a hand on the wall of the container, eyes a deeper blue than ever.

"He originally planned to stay in Amity Park to destroy it. He believed his hometown was his greatest pain. To rid the world of it, he sought to end his own suffering," Clockwork explained carefully. "Then, as I knew would happen, you dropped him on his head."

Andy let out a short, humorless laugh, "So I knocked some sense into him?"

"More than that," Clockwork replied, amused at her quip. "You made him remember his own joy."

"I thought he 'couldn't ever have loved me'," she retorted. She knew he expected her to say that, but it felt better to say it aloud than assume he knew what she was thinking.

"In the state he was when his younger self locked him away, he couldn't have. He believed emotion stemmed from humanity; that after the living counterparts of his two former selves had separated from him, he was incapable of anything but malice and a lust for power. Like the villain always seems to be, he was wrong."

"Emotions don't stem from humanity?" Andy asked, turning to face him.

"It's quite the opposite," he said. "Humanity is created by emotion. You can't strip that from something. It's what gave him the drive in the first place. The pain he swore he no longer felt was what fueled his creation. There is no escape from it," Clockwork explained. "Also, you found him at precisely the right time. I've always been fond of your punctuality."

Andy looked to the frozen form of the white-haired ghost she'd freed. She pondered his feelings, whether he knew he had them.

Clockwork already knew what she was thinking. "This fight is his own. But, you should know that there is no other way for him to exist than for his younger self and his ally to both lose their ghost halves."

"He has to exist," Andy plead, knowing it was useless.

"You both exist on different planes," Clockwork said. "For the outcome you both desire, you must exist on the same one."

His tone sounded like he was hinting at something. Andy turned the possibilities over in her mind. She could never ask Danny to give up half of himself for Phantom. Vlad, she wasn't close with. Quite frankly, she felt confident she'd rip it from the creep herself. But Danny was her friend. She couldn't take away a part of his life to exist on the same plane as her Phantom.

Then a light went off. She turned to Clockwork.

"What would happen if I went outside of time?" she asked. "If I didn't exist like he doesn't?"

Clockwork smirked knowingly, "How would you propose to cease your existence?"

"I'll go back to the day my mother left," Andy worded carefully, keeping her emotions at bay. "If I can change her mind, or even make my father leave a few seconds later, I can prevent the accident. I won't die, and neither will they." She looked into his eyes, pleading.

Clockwork pretended to ponder it, stalling until the precise moment he was meant to speak. "It's possible that could work. Though there's a chance you would disappear."

Andy didn't need to think, "But would _he_ still exist?"

Clockwork didn't have to see who she looked at to know she meant Phantom. "He was a part of his younger self's path. In that sense, he will always exist one way or another."

"What about Tucker and Sam?" she asked.

"All will be as it once was," he answered. "If you're prepared to risk your own existence."

She met his all-seeing eyes pleadingly, "Will you help me?"


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Clockwork nodded, "Break free of this prison, then come to my tower."

He disappeared with a wave of his staff. Time resumed. Sam's blast hit both Phantom and Dark, Tucker's plasma cutter broke through Danny's cage.

"Tucker!?" Andy called. "Help me out!"

Tucker rushed over and cut the edge of the container. It cracked and Andy blew it open. Sam rushed over as Danny formed a shield around them.

"I have a plan," Andy began. "But you're not going to like it, Sam."

"What is it?" Danny asked.

A blast cracked his shield and he flinched with the effort it took to repair it.

"Protect Tucker and Sam," Andy answered. "I'll take care of the rest."

Andy turned and fired shots at the Fright Knight to cover them as they were herded to the ridiculous RV. Danny yelled at them to move, ducking under the shots that got past Andy.

"Sam!" Danny called.

Andy felt a grip on her shoulder and turned.

"Don't go doing anything stupid," she yelled over the chaos. "You're family."

Andy pulled her into a tight hug, "This is all my fault. I'm going to fix this. I'm going to make everything better, one way or another. I'm so sorry."

Sam squeezed, then pulled back to look Andy in the eyes. "You better come back from this. I'll scour the other side if you don't. You know I will."

Andy smiled, "I know you would." _If you remember to._

Sam turned and ran back to Danny. Andy tore her eyes from them and continued firing shots to deflect the blasts the Fright Knight was shooting at them between Phantom's fire.

Phantom charged the Ghost King now, colliding solidly with him. They battled, throwing heavy punches backed by ecto-energy. Andy turned to Plasmius.

"I was beginning to think I was forgotten," Plasmius quipped.

Andy burnt through the edges of the cubical container. When it cracked, she hit it, shattering the structure, and freeing the Ghost Mayor.

"Keep the Knight away from the RV," she yelled, dodging a beam. "He can't get to it. Do you understand?"

Plasmius deflected a blast with a mirror-like shield, "Always the simple tasks."

Andy ignored that and hit the device on her wrist. A flash of light claimed her, and she was gone.

Sam was looking right at her.

"Did she just leave?" Sam asked in disbelief. "Danny! She's gone!"

Danny looked around. "What do you mean?"

"She _left_ , Danny," Sam yelled through the glass window. "Why would she leave?"

"Maybe it's part of the plan?" Tucker offered up hopefully.

"She did say we weren't going to like it," he murmured, defeated.

…

Andy set foot in Clockwork's tower. He was waiting by a portal with Andy's past playing in it. He didn't turn when she arrived, but she knew he was aware of her.

She stepped forward, looking into the portal. Her father was walking into the bathroom and her mother was looking through papers on the bed.

"You only get one chance to change what has happened," Clockwork said, changing to an elderly man. "If your father lives, the past is changed."

Andy nodded.

Clockwork motioned to the portal. Andy lifted herself from the floor and leaned forward, preparing to enter it.

"Clockwork?" she said, pausing before the scene.

He looked to her without expression.

"Thank you," was all she said.

He gave her a knowing smile and nodded once.

She turned back and took an unneeded breath. Decided, she went through.

On the other side, she remained invisible. Surely if her mother saw a shadow figure looming in the bedroom, she would've been terrified. Scaring her out of the house wasn't what Andy wanted to do.

But Andy was stricken with grief. Just the sight of her mother sitting in a nightshirt with her pin-straight, raven-colored hair tied in a knot on her head made tears form in the Shadow Ghost's sapphire eyes.

The woman sighed and gathered up the scattered papers. She neatly tucked them into the briefcase Andy remembered. She set it right beside a very expensive luggage set.

Andy stood frozen, overwhelmed by emotion as her father crawled into bed and shut off the lamp. He pulled Evie close and kissed her hair.

"I love you," he told her.

"I love you, too," she replied.

Andy was certain if she had a heart, it would crack right then. She watched over their shapes underneath a faded comforter, listening to their breaths as they drifted off. They had no idea it was their last night together. Andy knew her old self was fast asleep in the next room with wet hair and their beloved dog Ajax snoring beside her.

Andy thought hard about how to get her mother to stay. Maybe if she messed with the car, it would delay her enough for that truck to miss her dad. Or maybe she should hide the car keys. All of them. No one would drive.

Maybe she should slash every tire of every car in the world.

 _Deep breath,_ she told herself. _If you let your emotions get to you, you'll screw it up._

Andy watched her parents breathe deeply, still holding one another. Her mother's brows were furrowed as she slept, the stress of keeping her family a secret wearing on her.

Andy touched her mother's forehead lightly, feeling her emotions roll as she dreamt. Frustration, guilt, motivation, sadness. She was dreaming about leaving. She was dreaming about tomorrow.

Andy got an idea.

With a soft press against her mother's temples, Andy was sucked into her mother's dream.

Evie was looking at the steering wheel of her fancy foreign car, Darrel's voice pleading for her to stay. It tore at her insides to hear him like that. And she knew her little Andrea was watching from the kitchen window like she always did. She didn't come out to say goodbye anymore.

She never did plead with her mother, either. She'd lost hope that her mother would stay. Even their lunches had succumbed to forced small talk. Andy had lost the connection with Evie. That hurt. It hurt a lot.

Andy concentrated, willing herself to appear as her mother would recognize. She walked up and tapped lightly on the window, startling her mother.

"Mom?" she whispered, trying to hide the frown that preceded the tears.

Evie got out of the car and hugged Andy, resting her cheek against her daughter's warm head.

Andy held her tightly, breathing in the smell of perfume on her shirt. Evie stroked her hair.

"I have to show you something," Andy told her, not lessening her hold.

Her mother pulled back and met her eyes, "What is it?"

"It's what will happen if you leave again, Mom," Andy replied solemnly. "I have to show you, because I need you to stay."

"What are you talking about?" her mother looked at her as if she was a child.

Andy turned and looked out before them. Evie followed her eyes. She watched as Darrel clumsily opened the door to the car he and Andrea were working on.

"Has he been drinking?" worry flooded her voice.

"Whiskey," Andy replied as her father shut the door. "Granddad's whiskey."

He started the engine and shifted it into drive. Andy held her breath and looked away.

Evie's eyes were locked on the unpainted car. It nosed up to the entrance of the driveway and the horn of a semi-truck honked loudly.

Andy's arms held her back as she screamed and tried to run at the car. She had her eyes shut against her mother's cries, and then her own. Her mother whimpered as another Andy came barreling out of the house before them, screaming.

Andy ground her teeth together with the effort it took to replay this memory. She felt the sting of her fingernails being torn, the burn of glass tearing into her arm…the heat of the flash.

Evie turned back to the Andy beside her, teary-eyed and confused.

"Why would you show me this?" tears leaked from her eyes in many trails. " _Why_?"

"Because this is what happens when you leave," Andy choked out, making the memory fade behind them. "When you get in that car tomorrow, Dad drinks the rest of Grandad's whiskey and leaves to find you."

"What happens to you?" she asked, panicked. "What happens?"

"He was gone after the truck hit. I was gone after the flash," she said quietly. "You lose us both." _Then I lose both of you again after death._

Evie shook her head, as if clearing the thought from it physically. This was impossible. Darrel and Andrea weren't going anywhere. They always stayed right here. _Always._

Evie stroked Andrea's face, putting on her façade of calm, the way she always did. "Your father wouldn't drink your Grandad's whiskey. He wouldn't drive drunk, either."

"Just think about this," Andy plead, her eyes a wide abyss of blue. "Is this lie worth losing everything?"

Evie shot up in bed, startled by her alarm clock. Tears stained her face as she recalled the dream, and she was hiccupping breaths to steady herself. She grabbed at the sheets beside her, but they were empty and cold. Darrel was already awake and making coffee in the kitchen, so Evie crept into Andrea's room.

Her beloved daughter was laying on her stomach, one arm off the bed and one foot on top of the metal footboard. Ajax had sprawled out, pushing her to the edge of the mattress, and rested his head on her back. Evie never understood why she wanted that stinky old English mastiff in her bed at night. He reeked of dirt, and slobber always hung from his sagging jowls. But she had slept with him beside her since he was done with his crate training as a puppy. Now that he was fully grown, his 130-pound body outweighed the teenaged girl, and the twin mattress barely spanned wide enough for the two of them.

Evie stroked the mass of tangled waves on her daughter's head. She had her father's unruly tresses, with Evie's deep color. She rarely did anything with them, but they were always long and messy. She always fussed when her mother would try to brush it, and straightening it only seemed to make it angry. Andrea never cared, anyways.

Evie brushed a section of hair from Andrea's peacefully sleeping face as Ajax's dark eyes watched protectively. She remembered the dream, seeing her eyes a deep blue as she spoke. She hadn't noticed it before this moment, but it should've been the first thing she saw. Andrea's eyes weren't blue. They were grey, like Darrel's father's eyes. Darrel always said they were 'primed but not painted.'

So why would she dream her Andrea with blue eyes?

Evie crept out of the room, shutting the door as quietly as possible behind her. She walked into the kitchen and snaked her arms around Darrel's waist. Flashes of the car burned behind her eyes.

He stopped whatever he was doing to the coffee maker and rested his arms on top of hers, stroking her skin with his thumb.

"Are you okay, Evie?" he asked, quietly.

Evie shook her head.

He turned and held her in his arms. She settled there with a sigh. If she had to face her father today, she couldn't do it like this. She had to put on a brave face. That's what she'd always done. Then she'd see her mother and cry. Her mother knew everything about Darrel, Andrea, and Ajax. She was never as judgmental as Evie's old-fashioned father.

"What's wrong?" Darrel's voice was soft as he kissed her hair.

"I had this horrible dream," she began. "But the strangest thing was Andrea."

"You dreamt about Andy?" Darrel asked.

"It sounded like her, and looked like her, but…" Evie faded out.

"But what?"

"She had blue eyes," Evie sounded confused. "Bluer than any I've ever seen. And she looked older somehow, like she had lived a lot longer than she really has. She told me that if I left today, you'd come after me."

"I would, if I couldn't convince you to stay," he smiled. "I'd always come for you."

Evie shook her head, "You drank your father's whiskey first."

Darrel furrowed his brows. "Pop's whiskey? I only drink that stuff when we drive up to see him and mom."

"I know," she whispered.

"What else?" he rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.

"A truck hit you," her voice broke as tears began to fall. "Andrea told me you'd die. She said you both would."

Darrel held her closer, not really understanding what was happening. Evie never cried like this. She hadn't shed a single tear in front of him since Andy was born. Was she finally stressed out more than she could handle?

"I wouldn't drink and drive," was all he could think to say.

"You took the Chevelle," Evie said. "It was gray."

"The Chevelle?" Darrel asked. "That would be a little difficult without the engine and transmission."

Andy furrowed her invisible brows. No engine? No transmission? They had put those in nearly three months ago. Andy took it out in a dirt lot down the road last weekend and did donuts with her dad laughing on the passenger side. Ajax barked the whole time from the back seat.

She looked to the calendar on the wall.

The year was 1994.

Clockwork sent her back two years from the accident. She was fifteen years old.

"I know, I just…I saw _everything,_ " Evie whispered. "Andrea showed me everything. Then she asked me if lying to my father was worth it."

A clearer picture was forming in Darrel's mind. She was feeling guilty. He knew she didn't like having to leave, but now it was too much for her to bear.

"So why don't we all go?" he said.

Evie looked up at him, her amethyst eyes still glistening with tears.

"Andy and I could go with you to Amity Park. She could meet her family, finally. Hell, I'd even move there if it meant you didn't have to leave anymore," he stroked her face.

From the corner of the room where Andy stood invisible, she felt Evie's fear and uncertainty. She worried that her father would be enraged if he knew she had married and had a child so young. He would be furious to find out that, instead of going to a very prestigious college on the east coast, she'd married a mechanic and attended night classes at the local community college.

Andy's eyes burned yellow as she manipulated her mother's fear. She forced the feeling harder than ever, willing her mother to let her fear dissipate.

"Andrea could go to school there," she spoke more to herself than to Darrel. "She could meet friends there, and babysit for Jeremy and Pamela."

Darrel rubbed her back. "I'm sure I could open up a shop in town. A city would bring more customers than this dirt road."

"We could leave tomorrow," Evie added. "It's a short flight, but it would take a few days to drive."

"We could make a trip of it," Darrel smiled.

Andy sighed with relief in the corner of the room. Evie rushed past her unknowingly, going to wake her daughter to tell her.

Andy was about to follow when she was sucked into a portal. Confusion hit her as she was pulled from her home, and she fought against the pull until her feet planted firmly on the ground.

"Well done," Clockwork's voice echoed in her ears as she looked back through the portal.

Andy turned, her eyes red, "Why didn't you tell me that you sent me back early?"

"You wouldn't have done the same thing without a sense of urgency," he replied.

She approached him to view the portal he saw. It was Amity Park, when she had left it. She was an adult. She was in a strange apartment, setting out snacks for three teens.

Sam, Tucker, and Danny.

They laughed about something Andy couldn't hear over their open textbooks.

"You and Sam became close," Clockwork explained. "She and her friends spend most of their time together at your apartment. She claims you get her better than her parents. You bought her first pair of combat boots."

Andy touched the portal, eyes gold and teary.

"You're like an older sister to her, rather than a cousin, as she wrote on your 30th birthday card," he laughed.

Andy was smiling through the tears that blurred her vision. Then a though hit her.

"What about Phantom?"


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Andy's worried black eyes searched Clockwork's face for an answer.

"I still don't exist," a deep voice boomed inside the tower.

Andy turned, black eyes brightening to gold as she spotted him. He was just as she had left him. No injuries, no rage, no thermos. Just _Phantom_.

"Well, that makes two of us," she sighed, relieved to hear his voice. "Are you okay? When I left, you and Dark were at each other's throats. I was worried that you would get hurt before I could alter the timeline." She put a hand to her head, "God, it must've looked like I was jumping ship."

"Clockwork filled me in on your little disappearing act," he smiled, arms folded behind his back. "I'll admit I was confused when everything faded away and I wound up back here. It wasn't what I was expecting to happen after punching the Ghost King in the face."

Andy smiled, watching Clockwork from the corner of her eye as he left the room. "So, you aren't upset? That I messed up your plans, I mean."

"You are truly magnificent," he laughed his response. "You release me, enchant me with those wonderful eyes of yours, then you give up your very existence for me. Then, after all of that, you ask me if I'm angry at you for changing my plans."

Andy smiled, "It's really your fault."

"How is that?" he asked, a smirk on his face as he walked toward her one step at a time.

"You made me love you," she repeated her words from the rooftop. "There isn't a whole lot I wouldn't do for you, you know."

He smiled back at her, "I always believed that I was incapable of feeling such things. But now it seems I'm incapable of feeling them for anyone but you."

"Oh, good," she laughed, tears still falling from her golden eyes. "Otherwise this would be really awkward."

She flew forward and captured his cool lips on hers, taking him by surprise. It didn't take much time for him to respond. He wrapped his arms around her and returned her kiss.

He no longer fought with himself over what he felt. Whether he should be capable, whether it made him weak… He didn't care. He didn't care one bit. She was his everything, and if she called it love, then that's what it was. Nothing else mattered to him anymore. Besides, he could destroy anyone who dared to taunt him about it.

Her warmth against him made him smile against her lips, and hold her closer. He'd waited what seemed like an eternity to hold her like this. The brief kiss on the rooftop after he carried her away from the Ghost King's army hadn't been enough. He was addicted. No amount would satisfy his craving for her company. No fire would compare to the warmth of her skin, no flower petals would be softer than her lips. His arms would never hold anything more precious in this world or any other. He knew he was doomed the moment he started humming her songs to himself. Every moment with her that followed only further proved that he was never going to be content without her presence again. He had much more than a mortal lifetime with her. They were in their forever. Time was no limit; they had all of it and none of it at the same time. Their infiniteness was better than any vengeance.

Andy felt whole. She'd never gotten to kiss him goodbye, but this was better. This was a beginning. This was a promise that they never had to leave each other again. His cool skin against the warmth of hers. He was hers to annoy for as long as they ceased to exist. They were on the same plane. They were together. She had made it so.

Her hands tangled in his hair as she pulled free from his lips. She rested her forehead against his, meeting his crimson eyes with velvet red ones.

He looked at her for a moment, tilting his head.

"What?" she asked.

"You've changed," he replied.

"Changed?" Andy became worried. Was she fading? Had the plan not worked?

"Look."

She turned her head to look into the glass of one of the clock faces, searching desperately for her reflection. When she found it, it wasn't the featureless shadow she had grown accustomed to.

She _had_ changed.

Her face had appeared. Just as she remembered it was in Clockwork's disguise. But her hair had random strands of orange poking through. She looked down at her clothes. Her body had appeared, wearing just what she had worn the last time she was alive. A white tank top came down to a pair of black pants with a thick belt. Black boots hugged her feet, and Clockwork's medallion cuff adorned her wrist.

"Why?" she asked.

"You've become powerful enough to appear," Clockwork answered, returning.

"Meaning I can do both?" she asked.

"If you desire it, yes," he answered.

Andy watched her hand fade to black, "I'm kinda fond of the whole 'shadow' thing, anyways."

Zeus and Hades barged into the room, barking loudly. They charged Andy happily, licking her face and jumping on her.

"Just in time, too," Clockwork said satisfactorily.

"For what?" Andy asked, worried.

"You didn't think you were rid of us, did you?" Zeus barked.

"As much as the picky-eater girl would've loved that," Hades interjected.

"What happened to you two?" Andy wiped her chin. "Where'd you go?"

"The creepy Ghost in the hood sent us back to the Ghost Zone," Zeus answered.

"We didn't know where, though. And we don't bend right to use the medallion," Hades glared over to Clockwork, who had fashioned them.

"If I would've made them accessible, you would've returned far too early," Clockwork answered simply. "Having you waiting here for that long would've been…" he cleared his throat, "detrimental to the chronological timeline."

Andy bit her lip against the grin. Phantom pressed his lips together.

"Now that you _are_ here," Clockwork continued, ignoring the Hounds' stares, "I have a little chore for you."

"A chore?" Andy looked up from Hades' squinted eyes.

"Since we don't technically exist," Phantom answered in a loving tone, "we are being employed to interfere with those that do."

"You're here to do my dirty work," Clockwork smiled, shifting to an elderly man.

Andy laughed, "On your accord, rather than mine?"

"Of course," he replied.

The Hounds sat at Andy's feet obediently. Phantom snaked an arm around Andy's waist and she leaned onto him as Clockwork began talking about a problem with the Chronological map. She'd paid her dues. After the pain of her life's end and the agony of her afterlife's beginning, she had finally found happiness in timelessness.

Phantom seemed content as well. He wasn't a malicious villain, but he wasn't a grumpy Thermos Ghost either. He could use his power for something bigger than the vengeance he once sought. He was the second most powerful Ghost in the Ghost Zone, despite being timeless, and the third was tucked happily under his arm. He would roam different centuries with the Ghost who owned what little of his heart remained.

It wasn't flying off into the sunset, free to haunt the city, per se. But, dammit, this was pretty great. She was with her Phantom. Her living self wasn't orphaned, and her friends were living their lives just as they were before.

That was enough for her.


End file.
